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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

^ 1744 
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Shelf ...G.11 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ELSINORE 



AND OTHER POEMS. 



V .1 




y/ BY 



J. H. Gillespie. 



RALEIGH, N. C: 
Edwards & Broughton, Power Printers and Binders. 



tu^ 



^ 



.G in 



Entered accordinsr to Act of Congress, in the year x8S8, 

By J. H. Gillespie, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



Table of Contents 



PAGE. 

K 

Elsinore 

Fireside Sketches ^^ 

The Gazell ^^ 

Merrybell College - ^^ 

Wealth "^^ 

Evolution '^^^ 

An Exception *'^ 

"Madam Rumor" '^^ 

7K 
Salutatory - "^ 

Fredericksburg ^ " 

77 
Hesperus ' ' 

The Harp of Orpheus '^^ 

To Ry an '^^ 

' ' No More " '^^ 

Chancellorsville "^^ 

Ambrose Hall °^ 

Sleep ^^ 

Stanzas ° ' 

The Captives ^^ 

The Palace of Hope 88 

The Chase ^^ 

Myra ^^ 

Thanksgiving 1887 94 

The Valley and Shadow 95 

Stanzas 96 

Faith and Hope 96 

A Vision 97 

A Query 97 

Dives 98 



IV CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

The Old and the New 98 

The Music of the Spheres 99 

Impromptu 100 

Vespers 101 

A Simile 1 03 

Phantasies 102 

Nature and Man 106 

On Memory 112 

Retribution 113 

Eventide 114 

Eternity 115 

To Azrael 115 

To Laila 116 

I .et There Be Light 116 

The Penitent's Prayer 117 

To M** 117 

TheCometof 1882 118 

Lines 119 

Stanzas 119 

The Seashore 120 

Fate and Chance 121 

An Exhortation 122 

The Bard and the Wraith 122 

Sumpter 123 

Misfortunes 125 

Heaven and Earth 126 

"Pq **** ]^27 

Elegiac 1 27 

A Mohammedan Fable 128 

Stanzas 129 

A Retrospection 129 

"ProMemoria'' 131 



EbSIJ^(!)pE; 
A Tale of tlie Shenandoali. 



Prelude. 

From memory slowly fades away 
Remembrance of that fatal day, 
When from great Sumpter's citadel 
Columbia's starry ensign fell, 
And from the ocean's side afar 
Rolled back the crimson tide of war. 

'Tis not the purpose of my song 

To say who in that strife were wrong, 

Who were by angry impulse driven, 

Or by what hand the ties were riven ! 

Let more ambitious minstrel tell 

Why Federal fought, — Confederate fell. 

The humbler, lowlier task be mine 
To sing of love almost divine. 
Of tears that fell like summer rain, 
Of martyrs for their country slain. 
And lastly how war's cruel hand 
Made desolate a happy land. 



6 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

CHAPTER I. 

No fairer landscape meets the eye 
Beneath our sunny Southern sky 
Than the estate of Elsinore 
That lies beside the Shenandoah. 
It well might tax e'en Turner's power, 
To sketch the hills that grandly tower, 
And paint the azure canopy 
That overhangs the hill and lea. 
And even his great skill w^ere vain 
To paint the waving fields of grain. 
And make the glowing canvass gleam 
With all the beauties of the stream, 
The forest, meadow, field and lake. 
The sunny plain, the lonely brake, 
And all those nameless features rare 
That charm the eye in landscape fair, 
Where Nature guided by design 
The useful and the fair combine. 

In a broad park the mansion stood ; . 
And sportive art and nature rude 
Had wrought so deftly all around 
The old place seemed enchanted ground, 
Where timorous elfins of the wood 
Had built a shrine to solitude. 
Not so howe'er ; — prosaic age 
Here found a peaceful hermitage 
Remote from all the toil and strife 
And anxious cares of busy life 
Where it might watch, with eye serene, 
• And steadfast faith, the closing scene. 



ELSINORE. 7 

Well suited to this solitude 

Was its lone masters serious mood, 

For sadder or more thoughtful mien 

Than Philip Leigh's were seldom seen. 

His furrowed brow and snowy hair 

Told the sad tale of age and care, 

And to observant eyes revealed 

The .wound that time had never healed. 

The dread event of one short day 
Had wrecked the life of Philip Leigh. 
His bride ere one short year had flown 
Was from a shying palfrey thrown. 
The chords of life were rudely riven 
And her pure spirit went to Heaven. 
Since then the heart of Philip Leigh 
Has never known a happy day. 

Yet oft, when hope no longer fires 
The stricken heart of man aspires 
To higher things ; and misery 
Finds solace in blest charity, 
So 'twas with gray haired Philip Leigh 
Eschewing e'er the glad and gay. 
He sought the gloomy haunts of care 
And banished sorrow and despair. 

A lissom maiden fair and tall 

Dwelt too, in that sequestered hall. 

And ne'er before, on earth, I ween 

Was a more striking contrast seen 

Than in this pair ; the Winter's gloom 

And Spring with sunshine, song and bloom ; 



8 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Or dark and gloomy shades of night, 
And morning with its rosy light, 
Or hideous ghoul and spirit fair 
Might well as strong resemblance bear. 
And yet these two, the young and old 
Life's sunny Spring and Autumn cold, 
Its opening and its closing day 
Went hand in hand along the way. 
The one looked back o'er misty years 
His aged eyes bedim med with tears 
The other with a wondering gaze 
Saw the great future's devious maze 
Glow with the promises of time, 
Love, womanhood, and happy prime. 



CHAPTER II. 

The thunder that from Sumpter broke 
Midst crashing guns and blinding smoke 
Now sweeps like an autumnal gale 
From mountain crest to lowland dale. 
From peak to peak the tidings fly, 
Red beacons flash along the sky, 
And martial drums proclaim afar 
The dread approach of ruthless war. 

Disorder and confusion reign ; 

The farmer leaves his growing grain, 



ELSINORE. 9 

The builder throws his saw aside, 
The fisher leaves the lonely waste, 
The hunter quits the forest wide, 
And all seem mad in their wild haste, 
To join the legions hurrying forth 
To meet the squadrons of the North. 

The lover bids the maid adieu 

And leaves her weeping in the hall ; 

He swears through all he will be true. 

She prays that he may pass through all ! 

Believing, if he doth return 

Love's fire will unabated burn. 

The plowman leaves his glistening share 

To canker in the half-turned sod ; — 

Commends his wife and children dear 

Unto the watchful care of God ; 

His manly form with grief is bowed, 

The last fond lingering kiss is given. 

And murmuring something half aloud 

Concerning, "home," and" hope" and "heaven," 

He passes hurriedly away 

To join his brethren in the fray. 

The evening shades are gathering o'er 
The fair estate of Elsinore, 
Beyond the gloomy mountain's crest 
Where fiery Phoebus sank to rest 
The lingering day and coming night 
Meet half way up the ambient skies ;--- 
The changing fields of rosy light 
Out shine Aurora's crimson dyes. 



10 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

The timid stars that sang erst while 
When Nature to new worlds gave birth, 
Though voiceless now, yet seem to smile 
Upon their sister planet earth. 
And Cynthia pale, their fickle queen 
Sheds over all her silver sheen : 
And 'neath her faint reflected beams 
The lonely mansion, lonelier seems, 
As the tall trees, by day so fair, 
Cast gloomy shadows on the wall. 
Which dim and indistinct appear 
Like spectral giants gaunt and tall. 

From the lone mansion Edith Leigh, 

Who erst was blithesome, glad and gay, 

Comes forth, and her sad, thoughtful brow 

Tells of the grief that haunts her now. 

She well may weep, for, sad to tell, 

To-night, alas, she bids farewell, 

To one — ah thought of deepest pain — 

Whom she may never meet again ! 

She loves him well, and ere rude war 

Had cast its gloomy shades afar. 

Had named the day when she would be 

The happy bride of Eustace Lee. 

She knows the path that he must tread 

Is often strewn with ghastly dead. 

That war's impartial hand doth spare 

Nor young nor old, nor dark nor fair. 

He comes at last, and hand in hand 
They, 'neath the arching gateway stand 



ELSINORE. 11 

Where the dense foliage of a rose 

Its shadow o'er the portal throws. 

But let no curious eye invade 

The precincts of that quiet shade, 

Which for one moonlit hour's the shrine 

Of love, less human than divine. 

Nor will I venture to declare 

What sacred vows were uttered there, 

For to that virtuous pair alone 

The secrets of that hour are known : 

Suffice it then ;— with tearful eye, 

He bade the w^eeping maid " good-bye," 

Remounted, then, his gallant grey, 

And slowly sadly rode away. 

O human hearts ! could ye survive 
The trials of such parting hour, 
Could ye such doubt and grief outlive 
But for the fear dispelling power 
Of hope, the seer, that ne'er foresees 
Aught that can sadden or displease ?— 
That hope that bids you look above 
The woe, the grief on every hand, 
To that irradiant sphere of love 
That brighter, better spirit land I 
Though prophet false such hope may be, 
Yet who would quell his prophecy ; 
For who but lends attentive ear 
When his seraphic voice they hear ? 



12 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

CHAPTER III. 

A hundred different volumes tell 

The story of each sanguine fray, 

What heroes fought, what martyrs fell 

Who conquered and who lost each day : 

'Twere therefore repetition vain 

To tell their story here again. 

Besides, as well might one essay 

Hell's unknown tortures to portray 

As to attempt on printed page 

To tell of war's tumultuous rage : 

E'en if in each imprinted word 

The peal of some huge gun was heard, 

And every character should tell 

Of some sad soldier's dying knell ! 

That time is past, and may the pall 

Of darkness on that era fall 

And shroud from view forever more 

Those fields enriched Avith human gore. 

Nor will I seek to lift the vail 

Save when demands my humble tale. 

The rising moon its radiance shed 

On the pale faces of the dead 

As night descended, calm and still 

Upon the field at Malvern Hill, 

The battle ended with the day : 

Each leader drew his host away, 

And those red hills so lately riven 

With sounds that shook both earth and heaven 



ELSINORE. 13 

Grew dark and silent as if ne'er 
Grim war had held its revels here. 
That night full many a prayer was said 
By lips that ne'er before had prayed, 
And many Ji weary eye did close 
For aye in death's dreamless repose. 

The true in love, in war are brave ; 

And where in fight the ensigns wave 

Unscathed till now young Eustace Lee 

Had bourne the banner of the free. 

But now alas ! had fortune flown 

And he was left to die alone. 

His squadron's campfires far away 

Bathed the lone hills with weird light. 

Round these his tired comrades lay 

And slept through the short Summer's night. 

But when the rosy morning came 

And his proud legions name was read, 

No voice responded to his name, 

And he was numbered with the dead. 

O Thou ! obedient to whose will 
The raging seas grev/ calm and still 
Speed that blest day when war no more 
Shall stain the earth with human gore ! 
And may our mortal eyes behold 
That era prophesied of old, 
When Thou, the Prince of Peace, shalt reign 
Throughout Jehovah's vast domain ! 



14 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

It is a glorious thing to die 

In the just cause of Liberty 

And worthy of undying fame 

Is every fallen heroe's name 

Who died as did the hundreds three, 

Of old , at great Thermopylae. 

Of such let poets ever sing, — 

Worthy are such of every glory 

And praises of their deeds should ring 

In every humble minstrel's story : 

But woe unto the ruthless horde 

Who 'gainst the helpless lift the sword, 

And in their mad and furious haste 

To forge the bonds of tyranny 

Turn fruitful fields to deserts waste ; — 

Such war is mere barbarity. 

And yet along the Shenandoah 

Such ruthless war was seen of yore, 

When the remorseless Sheridan 

Through the fair valley led his clan, 

And fields laid waste and homes aflame 

Marked the dark path by which they came. 

They rode up to the very door 
Of the lone house at Elsinore 
Demanding of good Philip Leigh 
Where all his wealth was hid away. 



ELSINORE. 15 

In vain the hapless man denied 
Being possessed of hidden gold ; — 
The brute asserted that he lied 
And in most fiendish language told 
The harmless man his life should be 
The price of his mendacity. 

In vain the frightened slaves implored 
The demons to release their lord ; — 
In vain the fair unhappy maid 
For her devoted uncle prayed : 
For when a hurried search revealed 
No treasure anywhere concealed, 
His sword, the ruthless trooper drew 
And there within the rustic porch 
The lord of Elsinore he slew ; — 
Unto the house applied a torch. 
And rode away with fiendish glee 
To other deeds of cruelty. 

It was too dreadful for the pure 

And tender maiden to endure, — 

With cry despairing as the knell 

Of some lost soul she fainting fell, 

And through the long and cheerless day 

Unconscious on the greensward lay. 

Meantime the flames had been subdued 
But fires afar on vale and hill. 
Told that the wicked horde pursued 
The work of desolation still. 



16 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

. Though torn and tattered, and betrayed, 
And low in dust forever laid, — 
Thank God — our banner yet remains 
Free from such foul polluting stains ! 



CHAPTER V. 

The darkest night, the dreariest day 

That ever came soon passed away, 

And from the sky the great sun slione 

With as full radiance as if ne'er 

Across his bright effulgent sphere 

Were clouds and gloomy shadows thrown. 

So to the heart accurst by fate 

Deliverance cometh soon or late. 

And life again is bright and gay 

As if misfortune's darksome pall 

Had ne'er obscured the light and all 

The flowers that bloom along life's way. 

And, tis a joyous thing to see 

The shadows, like dark spectres flee 

At the approach of morning light ; — 

And yet, tis more delightsome far 

To see again Hope's radiant star 

Rise grandly through the gloom of night, 

And like the light of heaven dispel 

The shades and shapes and fancies fell 

That make the world so dark and dreary. 

And life, a way so lone and weary. 



ELSINORE. 17 

Return O Fancy in thy flight 
Once more to that disastrous night 
When poor heart broken Edith Leigh 
Sank, overcome with grief, dismay. 
Days passed ere consciousness again 
Resumed its interrupted reign. 
And when that moment came at last. 
And her delirious fears were past. 
Her friends and kindred all were gone, 
And she had been indeed alone 
But for the faithful slaves who strove 
By kindly deeds to prove their love. 

True to the memory of the dead 

Though much beloved she would not wed 

For she disdained to give her hand 

When none her heart's love might command. 

So months passed on ; and Edith Leigh 

Still trod alone life's darkened way, 

Believing that the bonds here riven 

Would reunite, sometime, in heaven. 

Who, then, can fully realize 
What joy was hers, what glad surprise, 
When, walking in the park one day 
She met a stranger clad in grey ; 
Who drawing nearer proved to be 
Her long lost lover Eustace Lee. 

Bourne, half -dead, from the field away 
Where he had fallen that dark day 
Through many weary months of pain 
In a f oeman's prison he had lain ; — 



18 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And when at length deliverance came 
His wounded mutilated frame 
Had kept him from his home away 
Until this blest midsummer day. 

Here, gentle reader, spare again 

A task that needs would prove in vain ; 

The emotions of the humblest heart 

Surpass the minstrels lowly art, 

To write were but to wrong the theme 

Of seraph's song and angel's dream, 

Suffice to know, love reigns once more. 

All undisturbed at Elsinore ! 




We stand beside the sunlit deep 

And watch the surges shoreward glide, 

Yet think not of the forms that sleep 
In silence 'neath the azure tide. 

We gaze upon life's restless sea ; — 
The tides of being ebb and flow, 

The upper currents flash and gleam, 
But darkness rules the depths below. 

We pass along time's broad highway 
With jest and merriment and song, 

Yet many a heart though seeming gay 
Is rankling with some hidden wrong. 

And oft the white unclouded brow 
The crimson cheek, the flashing eye 

Are but the whited sepulchers 
'Neath which corrupting corpses lie. 

Could we the seals of silence break, — 
Roll from each grave its guarding stone, 

What secrets would these tombs reveal, 
What horrors, to the world unknown. 

We meet our neighbor face to face 
We call him "friend," his hand we press ; 

We know him well and yet we know 
How little of his wretchedness." 



20 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Thus spake a gray haired aged man. 

The pastor of the village fold 
And with this prelude he began 

The tale that here is briefly told :— 

" These stanzas of a well remembered strain, 
Sung by a simple bard whom once I knew, 
Came rushing back upon my mind to-day 
The while I stood beside the open grave 
Of one I'd known from earliest infancy ; 
And as I mused upon his blighted life, 
His wasting sickness and his early death, 
The truth of that old rhyme was clear to me. 
And I thought too, as I looked sadly on, 
That when the book is read on that great day 
Full many a soul like that of wicked Cain 
Will be polluted with a brother's blood, 
And many a heart shall be pronounced unclean 
Whose greatest stain has been its faithlessness. 

It was a balmy morn full twenty years ago 
Wheti first I met this poor unfortunate. 
He w^as a goodly youth, and nought augured 
The fate that has at length befallen him. 
The day was fair : no clouds, portending storm, 
Obscured the sky, from which the glorious sun, 
Shone with full radiance on the dewy earth. 
The bright and ripening fields of golden grain 
Gleamed in the sunlight like a rosy sea 
When o'er its depths the gentle zephyr plays; 
The sparkling brook rushed madly, wildly on 



FIRESIDE SKETCHES. 21 

Down rocky slopes toward the winding stream ; 
And as it rushed along its tortuous way 
Its gentle fall, hecird in the distance seemed 
Sweet as the notes of some fair siren's song. 
The plowman too, upon the dusty plain, 
The while he drove his implement of toil 
Down deep into the fruitful earth, and while 
The glistening furrows slowly multiplied. 
And promises of harvest round him waved, 
Sang lustily at his accustomed toil. 
A group of children on the green sward played 
Beneath the branches of the stately trees, 
Foreshadowing in their childish merriment 
The serious labors of life's coming days. 
It was a scene that heaven might have approved, 
So like that one by man's transgression lost. 
In truth, if light from heaven doth ever shine 
Upon our lives, in this ungodly world, 
'Tis in these hours of youthful innocence, 
When Nature flows untrammeled in her way, 
And rich and poor, as in the narrow grave, 
Unmindful of distinctions, meet in peace. 

Apart from all the rest young William stood. 

With one it were discourteous to name. 

Yet she was fair, yea so surpassing fair 

She seemed the being of some sinless world ; — 

So beauteous — a fair seraphic face 

O'er shadowed by soft locks of shining gold. 

He too, was fair and strong and brave and true, 

A noble youth of origin obscure. 



2 



22 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

They were not children, nor were they full grown, 
But of that age, — that visionary age 
When life is full of promise and the heart 
Xieaps fast, exultant as the bounding roe ; — 
That blessed age of youthful innocence, — 
The happiest hour of life's capricious day. 

They loved each other, — yea, devotedly ; — 
With all the depth and fierce intensity 
Of which young hearts alone are capable ! 
But now, alas, their paths in life diverge ; 
They meet again, no more, perchance, for years. 
^' Will they forget each other" ? " Never" ! He 
By ail that was most sacred to him swore 
That only death could alienate his love ! 
And she with tears in her bright eyes affirmed 
That through all coming time she would be true. 

With many tears and oft repeated vows 

They parted, and both sorrowing went their way. 

She left a home of rural affluence 

Where all was simple happiness and peace. 

To mingle with a heartless world and learn 

Those mean distinctions that so often bar 

From all communion rich and poor. 

The other ; now his burden reassumed 

Filled with a purpose new, and high resolve 

To gain distinction, and an honored place 

In the esteem and confidence of men. 

Successful too he proved, and men beheld 

With admiration all his noble deeds, 

And with kind words they sought to urge him on. 



FIRESIDE SKETCHES. 23 

Years passed in rosy circles fast away, 

Yet in his heart the sacred fires did burn 

With fierce intensity. They met again ; 

But she was changed, and looked with scorn upon 

His horny hands and weather beaten face ; 

And when he spoke to her again of love, 

And of his faithfulness in years gone by. 

She met him with cold cutting words of scorn. 

Called him " presumptions," and bade him seek. 

Among the poor, one worthy of his love. 

Exists, on earth, no greater mystery 

Than woman's heart, and nought more variable. 

Nought in its tenderness so warm and true 

And in its coldness, nought so strangely cold. 

His manly heart was crushed within his breast. 

He lost his confidence in human kind 

Ambition, hope, the incentives of all toil. 

Forever fled and left him desolate. 

Disease upon him laid its ruthless hand 

And death soon broke life's fragile cord in twain. 

His deeds emblazon no historic page ; 

He left no " foot-prints on the sands of time ; " 

He sank into oblivious deep, unknown ! 

A rude pine cotlin held his wasted frame : 

The village sexton filled his obscure grave ; 

The village priest read an unfeeling prayer, 

And closed his book and slowly turned away. 



24 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Yea ! some may say it was his destiny. 

And some will marvel at his frailty. 

There is "no work, nor wisdom in the graA^e," 

And all God's " purpose is i^ast finding out ; " 

He died unknown ; he never reached the goal 

Of his ambition ; time ne'er fulfilled 

Its early promise ; — yet who will say [been. 

What might have chanced had she more faithful 

The old man ceased. Without the northern gale 
Around the casement whistled loud and shrill, 

All had in silence heard the dismal tale, 
And all, around the fire sat mute and still. 

Respectful silence 'twas that strangely told 
How each full heart responded to the lay, 

The tale that like a clasp of purest gold 

Bound the bright past with the dark yesterday. 

At length a voice the thoughtful stillness broke, 
'Twas from, a youth with curling sunny hair. 

Whose glowing cheek and dewy eyes bespoke 
The tender heart, moved by a stranger's care. 

" Such faithlessness is soon or late repaid : 

God will avenge such deeds," the young man said: 

' ' Confession of our faults should e'er be made 
Lest we regret for aye when hope is dead. 

Memory reverts unto my earlier days, — 
Eecalls a story at our hearthstone told, 

Of a maiden true unto her love always. 
And of a noble vouth both true and bold. 



FIRESIDE SKETCHES. 25 

The incident befits this solemn hour 

For no true tale of this our recreant race 

Was e'er complete without its faded Hower, 

Plucked all too soon from its accustomed place. 

If ye desire, the tale I will relate, 

Believe me that the incident is true 
For he who at my father's fireside sat 

The hero and the gentle heroine knew."' 

' Tell then thy tale" ! the listening ones exclaim, — 
" The earth even now is deeply wrapt in snow, 
We in this house to-morrow must remain 
Then may we rest as hence we cannot go." 



THE YOUNG MAN'S STORY. 

A river flowing slowly to the sea, 
A vine-clad cottage on a sloping hill 

A forest echoing back the boatman's glee, 
A summer evening calm and sweet and still. 

'Tis twilight's hour the deepening shadows fall 
The sky assumes a denser crimson hue, 

The stars above in Nature's potent thrall 

Like watchfires gleam along the heavenly blue. 

Beside the stream, beneath the starlit sky. 
And gathering night, upon the sandy shore. 

As in a dream with many a long drawn sigh 
Walk Walter Dean and gentle Nellie Moore. 



26 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And as they walk, he tells the tenderest tale 
That ever fell on blushing maidens ear, — ■ 

The only tale that every man can tell, 
And every maid with admiration hear. 

But now alas wars black and gloomy cloud 
Hangs dense and dark above his native land 

Portentous of the storm, while threatning loud 
Its thunders break from Niagara to Grande. 

He hears afar his struggling country's call 

Bourne on the breeze from mount to ocean's wave, 

Appealing to her sons in frenzy, all 

Her borders to defend — her rights to save. 

Eesponsive to that loud defiant cry 

He grasps his sword and dons the Southern gray, 
Resolved to go and if he must to die 

Where fields of carnage, and of glory lay. 

He pressed a kiss upon her fair young brow, 
Then sMnf tly sprang into his waiting bark 

And soon his manly form was lost to view 
As fast he sped across the waters dark. 

Awhile she stood beside the shadowy stream 
Ere she returned unto her vine-clad bower : 

Few, few have known such sadness as her heart 
Experienced in that lonely twilight hour. 



FIRESIDE SKETCHES. 27 

II. 

A feeling of loneliness came over her, 

And but for him she would have wished to die 

For in imagination's eye she saw 

A bloody field and Walter lying 'neath 

A heap of ghastly slain, his deep gashed wounds. 

All stiffening in the cliilly evening air. 

She sought her couch, and in her fevered dream 

Again she saw the field with its cold slain 

And Walter lying prone upon the earth. 

And no loved friend was near 

To comfort him, or soothe his dying hour. 

And thus through each succeeding darksome day 

A phantom sprite before Iier fancy moved 

Presaging e'er a sadder liour to come. 

Yet in those days, of sad uncertainty, 

Full naany a loving missive found its way 

To that secluded Southern home 

Assuring her, the loving trusting one, 

That her devoted lover had escaped 

The deadly missiles of his Northern foe : 

And telling too of joys that would be theirs, 

When cruel war should cease to vex the land , 

And that sweet calm that ever follows storm 

The halcyon days of blessed peace should come. 

Then came a change — the days slipped by. 
To months extended, and the mighty earth 
In her vast orbit went successive rounds : 
Peace came, but came not Walter Dean. 
And as the days sped on, uncertainty 
[Heft its dark traces on her fair sweet face 



28 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And made her life, perpetual wretchedness. 
And yet she murmured not at Providence, 
For she had faith, and "looked beyond the vail" 
To Him, who o'er the fate of man presides. 
And in Him found a friend and comforter. 
And had she known the fate of him she loved, 
Even of his death had been fully assured. 
She had been happy still, regarding all 
As chastening from the gentle hand of Him, 
Who scourges those whom he loves tenderly. 

So when the roses faded from her cheeks, 
And her sunk eyes and wasted form bespoke, 
The coming of the "fell destroyer " death. 
She shrank not from him, but she smiled and said 
" My days of sorrow soon will be no more." 

She died, like stars that fade at dewy morn. 

Scarce could the eyes that watched her feeble frame 

Tell v^dien the spirit took its final flight 

Across the shadowy bound that doth divide 

The righteous from their fair inheritance. 

But ere from earthly scenes she passed away, 

She begged lier friends her wasted form to lay 

Beneath the tree that grew beside the river. 

" 'Tivas there," she said, I loved in youth to play, 

'Twas there upon a glorious Summer day 

My Walter last I saw^ before he went away 

And there I wish to sleep in peace forever." 

With her request the sorrowing ones complied 

She softly sleeps by the Savannah's tide 

And as the old oak's branches in the soft breezes wave 

They seem forever singing a requiem o'er her grave. 



THE GAZELL. 29 

Chapter I.— The Conflict. 

Who has not viewed with pleasurable emotion 
The wide, extended prospect of the ocean ; 
The changeless, vast, mysterious and sublime 
Type of the dread and trackless waste of time 
Wherein the years like a majestic river 
Without o'erflowing flow forever and forever ! 

Who has not felt a strange, intense delight, 
While sitting by the lire some wintry night. 
To hear some toil-worn wanderer of the sea 
Tell fearful tales of crime and misery ? — 
Of gallant ships that left their native shore 
Passed out of sight, and were beheld no more? 
Of alien crews to carnage wholly given. 
Defying earth and not regarding heaven ? — 
Of fiends that spend life's last expiring breath 
Reviling God and cursing ruthless death? — 

Ye whose hearts thrill like mine to hear the tale 
Of life upon the deep mid storm and gale 
Attend while I in unpretending verse 
A seaman's well-remembered tale rehearse ; — 

Up, up ! my men and spread the sail 
The morning breaks ! — the freshening gale 
Will waft us from this hidden bay 
Where we have loitered many a day !" 



30 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS, 

Thus cried Saucliez a corsair brave, 
Whose lawless deeds on ocean wave 
Each wandering mariner inspired 
With terror, or to vengeance tired. 
For merciless as a fiend of hell 
Was Sanchez of the ship Gazell 
To craft of every kind that bore 
A christian ensign at its fore. 

Across the bay his order rang 
As up the yards the seamen sprang, 
And soon the sails like snowy clouds 
Hung flapping o'er the creaking shrouds. 
Above, below, from boom and gaff, 
From main and mizzen fore and aft, 
From course to royals sails were set, 
Then from the deep made dripping wet, 
That they might catch the favoring breeze, 
And swiftly fly o'er hostile seas. 
For well they knew the ocean swarmed 
With hostile cruisers manned and armed, 
Knew well that ravenous beasts of prey 
Were hunted with less zeal than they. 

'Tis said a blessed angel's given 

Unto each favorite of heaven 

To shield him midst the toils and cares 

Of life's eventful, changeful years. 

But these were strangers, — aliens, — they 

Had never yielded to the sway 

Of Him, who freely, gladly gave 

His life the sons of men to save. 



THE GAZELL. 31 

And yet it seemed as if some sprite, 
Some demon from the land of night, 
Some angel cursed or spirit dark, 
Had guarded e'er that corsair bark : 
For often when by foes pursued 
She would their eager quest elude, 
And vanish like the miriage fair 
That sometimes haunts the desert air. 
But now it seemed the Geni dark 
Left to its fate the pirate bark ; 
For clambering up the rocky wall 
Of beach that towered grand and tall. 
Her crew on yester morn descried 
A ponderous frigate o'er the tide. 
That, with furled sails, at nightfall lay 
At anchor just outside the bay. 

What need of their intent to tell : 
Full well the wary pirates knew 
None sought them but with purpose fell 
For none to them in friendship drew ; 
Like Ishmael, Hagar's outcast son, 
They loved no man, were loved by none. 

' Ho ! fore and aft ! stand ready there, 
The ship for instant fight prepare ! 
Run up our banner at the fore ! 
We'll stain their cursed decks with gore !" 
Thus Sanchez cried, in ringing tones 
And as he spake the "skull and bones," 
The banner of the lawless brave 
Rose darkly o'er the sunlit wave. 



32 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Soon, where the rocky shores converged 

The ship from her retreat emerged. 

And lo ! with pennons bright and gay, 

And burnislied guns in dread array, 

Like a great fortress on the flood 

The mighty Enghsh frigate stood. 

Like hunted hare or flying deer 

On came the ship in fleet career, 

Each dark eye flashed with living fire, 

Each face was livid with its ire 

As they waited for their enraged foe 

To deal the long suspended blow. 

Not long they waited, for with flame 

And shriek of death the moment came, 

Midst clouds^of smoke, like fumes from hell, 

The flying pirate's mainmast fell ; 

And with broke spars, shrouds swept away 

Dismantled all the Gazell lay. • 

"Hurrah ! hurrah !" the Britons cried 
And loud the swarthy chief replied, — 

" We gain this conflict, or the wave 
To-day shall be each corsair's grave !" 
Then turning with suppressed ire, 
And now, ye cursed sea dogs, — fire ! " 
One moment glanced each gurmer's eye, 
One moment waved his brand on high, — 
And clouds of fire with iron rain 
Swept o'er the startled waves again. 
Then with a wild and savage yell 
Like tigers in their native dell. 



THE GAZELL. 33 

These demons clad in human form 
Unto their pendant barges swarm. 
What though their foes are four to one ? 
They've oft before such hazard run, 
And reck not whether death or life 
Be theirs, in the unequal strife. 

Impelled by many a plashing oar 

The barges gained the frigates fore, 

And on the morning air uprose 

The sound of curses, shots and blows 

Commingled in one horrid roar ! 

Shout answered shout, blade rang against blade, 

Thrust was with deadly thrust repaid ; — 

Yet still they fought : in even scale 

The victory hung, none could prevail : 

Beset about both front and rear 

With sword and pistol, pike and spear 

The Britons bore themselves full well 

And many a stalwart corsair fell. 

Yet were their glorious efforts vain 

No wished for 'vantage could they gain ;— 

The pirates to such war inured 

The bloody contest best endured. 

Soon face to face the chieftains stood. 
Their weapons red with human blood : 
Each raised his reeking blade on high ; 
Each swore to conquer ; — else, to die ! 
Then came the sharp clang of the steel 
The skillful parry, feint and ward, 



34 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Each weapon was both sword and shield ; 
Each sought to break the others guard. 
Till Sanchez maddened by glissades, 
And feint and thrust of glittering blades, 
Raised high aloft his mighty brand 
And swept the Britons from his hand. 
The chieftain quailed not, felt no fear 
Although he deemed that death was near,- 
He did not hope ; — even innocence 
He knew full well had seldom stayed 
One moment Sanchez' deadly blade. 
How could he hope when his offense, 
His coming o'er the sea afar 
Had first provoked this sanguine war. 
He was no craven, he would die 
But ne'er appeal for clemency, — 
He bared his breast and loudly cried 
"Strike demon ! thou art still defied !" 

The pirate stayed his falling hand, 

And cried as lowered the gleaming brand, 

' ' I will not strike a vanquished foe ! — 
I'll spare thy forfeit life, but know 
If thou another day wouldst see 
Thou yieldest now to my decree !" 

" I yield !" he cried, "yet if again 
We meet on shore or briny main 
Your dearest life blood shall repay 
The ruin you have wrought to-day ! " 

Scarce could Sanchez repress his ire. 
His dark cheek paled his eye flashed fire, 



THE GAZELL. 35 

He paced the deck with angry stride 

And thus unto the taunt replied : — 
• ' Since thy vain threats I do not fear 

I may thy causeless insults bear. 

Thy life is thine once more I say 

And if we meet in future day 

I'll ask no favor at t]iy hand, 

Be it on barren sea or land ! 

But ere thy cursed deck I leave 

These cannon to the deep I'll heave ; 

And till my bark's repaired again 

Thou shalt upon this spot remain !" 

Then, turning to his swarthy band 

The pirate chieftain waved his hand, — 
"Ye heard my words, and while 'tis day 

Cast all these guns into the bay, 

And every corpse unto the wave 

The deep shall be their only grave ;" 

No shroud they'll need, the tra^ckless sea 
Shall their last shroud and coffin be !" 
Then turning to his haughty foe 
He cried ; "there's nought I wish to know 
Save this ; whose cursed treachery 
To this wild spot first guided thee?" 
But ere the chieftain could reply, 
The traitor, Sanchez did espy ; 
"Ah ! faithless wretch !" he sternly cried, — 
Ah cursed villain, doubly dyed ! — 
Foul outcast, — dog, — and fiend of hell ! — 
Imp, that in human form doth dwell ! — 



36 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Embodied devil, wretch without name ! — 

The vilest of the sons of shame I 

A man whose instincts all are wild, — 

Abaddon's son, and Satan's child, 

A demon foul, — a wretch proscribed, — 

And yet, — by English sailors bribed. 

To break for them the mystic seal, 

The secret of the isle reveal ! 

But thou shalt die ! — this day's thy last, 

Thy light of life is waning fast, 

Another hour, its baleful sun 

Shall sink, its course forever run !" 

Nav ! take my life !" the Briton cried, — 
" But spare that of my luckless guide 
'Twas I who tempted, and to-day 
I will his utmost ransom pay !" 
" In vain, my noble foe, you plead," — 
Sanchez replied, — " you intercede 
In vain ! Though life itself you'd give 
In his behalf, he should not live ! 

Upon the deck the pirates stand 
Expectant of their chief's command, 
And as on Pedro's form they gaze 
Their eyes with suppressed fury blaze. 
And passions, which they ill control 
Rush headlong through each fiery soul. 
The moment comes, the word is given 
And Pedro swings twixt earth and heaven. 
Then from their mountings one by one 
The pirates heaved each ponderous gun ; 



THE GAZELL. 37 

This task accorapiished, then the wave 

Became a vast and common grave ; 

The bodies in that conflict slain 

Sank gurgling in the briny main, 

And as the plashing waters closed 

Each in its narrow bed reposed. 

Down many a rough and hardened face, 

Swiftly coursed the dewy tear, 

As each in some cold features traced 

The lineaments of comrades dear. 

Such, blessed friendship, — richest dowser, — 

Is thy etheral, holy power. 

Upon the darkened haunts of shame, 

As on the sunny heights of fame. 

E'er shines thy pure and gentle ray. 

Transforming darkest night to day. 

When virtue from the heart is fled, 

And every noble hope is dead, 

Within the heart thou dost remain. 

Ethereal, pure, without a stain. 

Outraged, how soon thou takest thy flight 

And leavest the soul as dark as night. 

With tearful eye, and heart subdued, 
The last sad rite the corsair viewed ; — 
His hand across his face he drew 
And thus addressed his swarthy crew : — 
Your work is nninished : now my men 
Return unto your craft again ; 
And noble captain you must be 
My guest, until the open sea 



38 ELSINOEE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Shall on her heaving bosom bear 
The bark that lies dismantled there. 
Then from restraint sbalt thou be free 
As winds that curl the azure sea !" 

These words o'ercame the Briton's pride 
•" Thou art a generous foe !" he cried. 
Thy enemy from far I came . 
To punish all thy deeds of shame, 
Yet art thou lenient ! Thou hast shown 
More clemency than that I own 
'Twas my intent to show to thee. 
For hadst thou been instead of me 
A captive, thou hadst ere now swung 
From yonder spar, where Pedro hung ! 
Once hast thou triumphed on the sea 
And now again o'ercomest me 
With kindness ! Ne'er was I before 
So overcome on sea or shore. 
Yet, generous captain, not to thee 
"Will I dare pledge my fealty ; 
Nor can the cleansing hand of time 
From thee efface the stains of crime : 
Think, how the fairest gifts that heaven 
On man bestows, to thee were given ! 
Think how thy noble gifts misspent 
Unto the suffering world has sent 
A myriad soul-subdueing cares, 
The orphan's cries, the widows tears ! 
Think of the hearts that thou hast riven 
Of past and future, hell and heaven !— 



THE GAZELL. 39 

Reflect on these, — forsake thy crimes ; 
Seek distant shores in other climes ; 
Thy wealth in deeds of love employ. 
Then shalt thou feel new founts of joy, 
Upspringing in thy arid breast 
To bless thy life and give thee rest !" 

As the Briton spake the feelings played 
Like gleams, alternate light and shade 
Upon the pirate's swarthy face, 
Revengeful passion, and regret, 
(For conscience had not perished yet,) 
One might in his dark features trace. 

"I thank thee noble foe !" he said ; 

' ' But all my deeds be on my head 
My lawless life I dare not leave 
Though my misdeeds a world should grieve ! 
By ruthless hands have I been driven 
From friends and country, hope and heaven ! 
Spies dog my steps where e'er I turn, 
Thus adding to the fires that burn 
Within my bosom evermore ; 
But when my days on earth are o'er 
The world shall know why my fair name 
Is blackened by such deeds of shame ! 
Judge not my life until its end ! 
Till then I hold thee as my friend, 
As o'er the azure deep I roam 
This ship my fortress and my home !" 



40 EL8IN0RE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Chapter II. — The Tempest. 

With unseen things the mind delights to play ; 
And fancy rules us all with boundless sway : 
O'er trackless realms, we, now as despots, reign, 
And, ruled by her, rule realms beneath the main ; 
On her broad wing, we all the past explore. 
The present, and that dreary unknov/n shore 
Where in the light by spectral torches shed 
Flit to an fro the spirits of the dead : 
Framed by her power, the fabled gods of yore 
Euled heaven and earth, and governed sea and 
shore. 

^olus o'er the winds and clouds did reign : 
And Neptune's kingdom was the restless main. 
And both were gods, (so says tradition old,) 
And by their power were winds and waves con- 
trolled. 
Such deities the ancient nations praised. 
In them believed, and to them altars raised : 
But creeds oft change, as with the flying years 
A nation vanishes, a system disappears. 
A thousand faiths spring from the human brain, — 
Baal, Ashtaroth and Jove successive reign. 
With minor gods a countless multitude, 
Whose praise is death, libations, — human blood. 

The enlightened mind these powers no longer 

sway. 
The daylight came, the darkness passed away ; 



THE GAZELL. 41 

Reason bad its birth. One living Power^controls 
The universe, and everything upholds. 
All things are ordered by His wise decree ; 
The thunders breaking from the stygian cloud, 
The stars, the tiny plants, all things that be 
Are voices that proclaim His praise aloud. 
And He it is that often doth transform 
The aspect of the over-arching skies 
When e'er a night of darkness, gloom and storm 
Succeeds a day that doth unclouded rise. 

Again has earth in her svt^ift flight 
Passed the dark boundary line of night 
And the far East with kindling ray 
Proclaims the unseen lord of day : 
The morning breaks, the waters glow, 
Aurora's hues the skies o'er spread ; 
The winds are laid, the waves sing low 
The stars fade one by one o'er head. 
No breezes stir the balmy groves, 
No zephyr o'er the water roves, 
No waves besiege the rocky strand. 
Silence enfolds both sea and land. 

Such calms, to understandings sound 
A meaning have ; silence profound 
On sea and land doth oft presage 
The tempest and the whirlwind's rage. 
Storm wreck and death seamen behold 
In tranquil seas and skies of gold. 



42 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

From shapely masts upright and tall 
The snowy sails in festoons fall, 
While anxious crews with eager eyes 
Survey the changing azure skies. 
The threatening rocks on every side, . 
And reefs laid bare by ebbing tide, 
All menacing the mariner 
That shall a timely flight defer. 

"My noble friend, we must away 
Or waves shall sing our dirge to-day : 
A light wind stirs the palms, perchance 
'Tw^ill waft us o'er the broad expanse, 
And on the wide extended sea 
Our ships from peril shall be free !" 
So spake the rover of the tide 
And to him thus the peer replied : — 

*' You reason well. Yet ere we part 
Upon your kindness I'd obtrude 
A token of the gratitude 
That overflows a grateful heart. 
I pray kind sir, accept this ring ; 
And should misfortune ever spread 
Her raven pinions o'er your head. 
Remember the strong hand that gave. 
And unto me this token bring 
And I will save, or die to save .'" 

Don Sanchez took the proffered band 
Of gold from out the captain's hand : 
Strange its device ; an asp of gold 
Twisted in many a mazy fold ! 



THE GAZELL. 43 

Each eye — a sparkling diamond bright, — 

Shone like those silvery orbs of night, 

Which angei hands at dewy eve 

In heaven's azure mantle weave. 

A smile lit up the corsair's face 

As to the peer he thus replied ; — 
" My lord, I thank thee for the grace, 

Thy generous nature hath supplied : 

I thank thee for thy gift ; but I 

Have lived a free man and will die 

Ere foeman shall in fight prevail ! 

Therefore, thy gift can ne'er avail 

The need for which thou say'st 'twas given : 

Yet will I keep it until heaven 

Shall call me from life's scenes away, 

In memory of this happy day ! 

But ere thou leavest the Gazell 

I pray my noble Captain tell, — 

If, indeed, thou canst tell, — where 

Thou didst obtain a gem so rare ?" 
" That ring, a dying lady gave 

My father, as she begged him save 

From life of shame a little child. 

While round them raged a conflict wild. 

She perished and he never knew 

From whence the murdered lady came, 

Nor would the captured pirate crew, 

Even in death, reveal her name. 

My father took the little one, 

And reared him gently as his son ; 

And he it is now standing there, — 

The manlv vouth with raven hair ! 



44 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

But clouds are gathering in the sky. 
We must these threatening dangers fiy !'" 
Then like a friend devoted, true, 
The Captain bade his host adieu : — 
His barge sped swiftly o'er the tide 
And gained the lofty frigate's side. 

Like sea fowl, spreading tireless wing, 
That cleave the air with graceful motion, 
Or birds of passage in the Spring 
Eeturning o'er the stormy ocean, 
Their winding way the vessels take 
The Gazell through the passage leading : 
The frigate following in her wake 
And every tack and motion heeding. 
The seaman saw the line of foam 
Gleaming across the misty sea, 
That marked a dangerous reef vvhereon 
The wild waves break incessantly. 

The pirates knew they'd nevermore 
As freemen tread the rocky shore 
Now in the distance fast receding ; 
Though conquerors in uneven fray 
They looked v^ith sorrow and dismay 
Upon the spot that they were leaving. 
For well they knew that they could ne'er 
Again in flight seek safety here, 
For now, alas, their foeman knew. 
How their staunch ship had oft eluded 
The search of each pursuing crew 
Within that hidden bay secluded. 



THE GAZELL. 45 

The ships soon passed the outmost line 
Of reef that girts the rocky shore, 
And from impending peril freed 
They sailed the open sea once more. 
Apart, across the ocean vast 
They moved with graceful undulations. 
Displaying from each tapering mast 
The flags of their respective nations. 
From the Gazell's fore Spain's broad ensign 
Was in the morning sunlight glaring. 
And not the wonted "skull and bones," 
The banner of the iav>degs, daring ! 

Far in the East a cloud of mist 
Was nearer, hour by hour approaching, 
So dense and dark, it seemed that night 
Was on the realm of day encroaching. 
The mighty frigate's spars were bared, 
Down froDi the masts each snowy sail 
Was dravv^n and all the ship prepared 
To battle with the coming gale. 
A speck upon the ocean's verge 
The Gazell's distant form now shone, — 
One moment on the vision played 
Another, and from sight, 'twas gone. 
The cloud of westward-driving mist 
Obscured her dark and shadowy form, 
As o'er the intervening space 
Swept on the proud relentless storm. 
On, on I it came, the lightning played 
Like demons on the stygian cloud ; 
And the hoarse muttering thunders shook 
The very deep with echoes loud. 



46 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

That seemed like harbingers of doom 
So deep was tlie succeeding gloom 
Which with the storm's advancing sweep 
Grew dense, and denser, o'er the deep. 
Wave followed wave in quick succession, 
Peal followed peal, the ocean round, 
Resounded with as horrid sound 
As if the damned did give expression, 
To all the woes, the torments fell 
They suffer in the pit of hell. 

Unseen behind the murky clouds 
The mighty san at length descended ; 
No long and lingering twilight came, 
With skies of gold and seas of fiame, 
But when he sank the day was ended ; ^ 
And night came down, dark as that night 
That brooding over chaos hung 
Ere God's command, " Let there be light," 
Through universal darkness rung. 
No stars shone forth from that dark pall 
That o'er them its black folds extended, 
But winds and waves and clouds seemed all 
In one terriiic agent blended. 

O where on earth is solitude 

So great as on old ocean's flood, 

When crested waves with clouds contend, — 

Inverted torrents heavenward flow, 

And God no longer seems a friend 

And Nature seems a deadly foe ? 

Then man indeed is all alone. 

And in his peril there is none 



THE GAZELL. 47 

Save God, on whom he can rely 

To succor give or hear his cry : 

And in the lieavy thunder peals 

He hears that God in anger speaking ! 

And fancy to his soul reveals 

A fiery hell, and demons shrieking. 

As slowly, sadly passed away 

The hours of that tempestuous night : 

The seamen prayed for friendly day, 

The advent of the blessed light. 

The dawn was near when through the gloom 

They heard the deep and heavy boom 

Of cannon, o'er the ocean sounding ; 

Loud rang the signals of despair 

Upon the dark and cheerless air 

That told of some lone vessel's foundering. 

"God pity the perishing mariners !" 
In ringing tones, the seamen cried, — 

" God pity us all in a night like this, 
For surely none can help beside !" 

How dear to the lone wanderer 

Eeturning o'er the boundless brine, 

Are shores of his own native land ' 

That in the morning sunlight shine ! — 

How beauteous to the soul forgiven. 

While passing through the " valley's gloom," 

Is that first radiant view of heaven 

Seen first from confines of the tomb?— 

And O how blessed is the day, 

The first faint crimson struggling ray, 



48 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

To him who in the darkness sails 
An ocean swept by furious gales. 

And when the morn dawned o'er the deep 
The wild, terrific storm was ended, 
The rifted clouds swept slowly by, 
Their power gone, their wrath expended. 
Above them stretched a peaceful blue 
The waves were of cerulean hue 
And o'er the undulating sea 
The wild birds fxoated gracefully. 

But what had been the fate of those 

Whose cannon's heavy boom 

Had rung the signals of distress 

Through the Lethean gloom ? 

The seamen gazed across the sea ; 

The heaving broad expanse, 

Far as the strongest eye could view, 

Was all that met their glance. 

No broken spar, nor storm rent sail 

Nor other trophy of the gale, 

Told how the wild serial powers 

Had wrought, in the dark fearful hours. 

But when from his long night's repose 

The sun, through rifted clouds uprose. 

They saw, far in the distance lone 

A shore with broken timbers strewn. 

With here a spar a:nd there a mast 

About the beach at random cast ; 

With here and there a stiffening form 

The human victims of the storm. 



THF GAZELL. 49 

Chapter III.— The Shipwreck. 

With rushing prow the frigate made her way 
Toward the shore whereon the corpses lay. 
Awed by the presence of the palhd dead 
The crew were mute. The snowy sails o'erhead 
Were flapping idly in the gentle breeze, 
This with the murmur of the sparkling seas, 
The rush of prow, and scream of seafowl near 
Were the only sounds that smote the listening ear. 
Their hearts were sad, and airy fancy soared 
Across the waves, the billows capped with foam, 
And memory saw full many a genial board 
Where Love presides in her fair empire, " home." 
Their hearts were full of hope and tenderness, 
Down many a cheek the teardrops found their way 
As they bethought them of the wretchedness 
Of other homes in the bright far away : 
They thought of wives that evermore would keep 
Sad vigils, looking for their lord's return ;— 
Of maids, who in seclusion e'er would weep 
While smothered fires would in their bosoms 

burn ; — 
Of children, who would daily leave their play 
To ask,—" Why stays my sire so long away?" 

Thus fancy weaves full many a golden thread 
Within the dark and sombre woof of time ; 
And oftentimes the cold and paUid dead 
Though voiceless, speak with eloquence subKme. 



50 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And hard indeed must be the human heart 
Whose anxious thought death never did engage ; 
To whom the past no lesson doth impart, 
Who reads no moral in life's closing page, 

As thej approach the sunny shore 
The crew their pendant barges lower, 
And these impelled by sinewy hands 
Soon reach the white wave beaten sands. 
O what a scene for mortal eye ! — 
The blood each swarthy cheek forsakes, 
As they view the lifeless forms that lie 
Upon the shore where ever breaks 
The crested, shoreward rolling surge 
Shrieking aloud its horrid dirge. 

On features cold and fixed as stone 
The last emotions pictured shone ; — 
Sorrow, remorse, hope and despair 
Embodied lay before them there. 
And now full well these seamen knew . 
'Twas Sanchez and his alien crew 
Whom, the avenging gales of heaven 
Upon this lonely spot had driven. 
Still dripping with the flying spray 
Beneath a spar the chieftain lay : 
The sands were crimson with the tide 
Of life-blood ebbing from his side ; 
Eeason had fled yet in him still 
Remained the firm undaunted will ; 
He would not yield submissivel}^, — 
He still would struggle to be free. 



THF GAZELL. 51 

But the intense pain had deprived 

Don Sanchez of his wonted powers, 

For Mfe itself had scarce survived 

The issue of those fearful hours ; 

So when he aimed his futile blows 

At those vvdiom he imagined foes, 

His senses reeled, his vision fled 

His eyelids closed ;— he seemed as dead. 

And brawny seamen straitway bore 

The senseless body from the shore 

Unto the stately ship that lay 

At anchor in a sheltered bay. 

Then at their noble chiefs command 

Thev dressed his wounds with tender hand 

And staunched as best they could the tide 

Of crimson flowing from his side, 

Yet senseless still as lifeless clay 

Upon his couch Don Sanchez lay. 

Above the reach of crested wave 
The seaman dug a mighty grave. 
And 'neath the palm's protecting shade 
Each lifeless pirate's body laid ; 
Laid where the ocean's solemn roar 
Would sing their dirge forever more. 

The shades of evening came and past 
And o'er the ocean lone and vast 
Broke the first feeble crimson ray 
That heralded the coming day. 
When in the dim uncertain light. 
Like seafowl plumed for distant flight. 



52 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

The ship her snowy canvass spread 
And o'er the billows swiftly sped. 

Don Sanchez through the night had slept, 
While faithful ones alternate kept 
Their vigils where the lamplight shed 
Its radiance on his lowly bed. 
Oblivious of all earthly pain, 
The chieftain w^as a youth again, 
For memory like a truant played 
Amid the scenes of long ago, 
Through the alternate light and shade 
Of life's recurrent joy and woe. 
And as delirious fancy caught 
Within her grasp the ready tongue, 
Then from his lips the fevered thought 
In wild disjointed phrases sprung. 

But unremitting care recalled 
The wandering life back to its throne, 
And reason for a time enthralled 
In his dark eye triumphant shone. 
" And am I all," — he feebly cried 
"Whom the avenging wind and tide 
Have spared to see the light of day?" 
O would ! I too, had passed away ! 
To die, were better than remain 
To wear oppression's galling chain. 
To bear the hate and scorn of foes 
And in a felon's grave repose ! 
Upon this planet to and fro, 
The countless myriads come and go. 



THE GAZELL. 

Yet 'mong them all, — these throngs of men. 
I, wretched man, can claim no friend. 
No one will soothe my dying hours. 
Upon my bier no tears will fall ; 
No gentle hand will deck my pall. 
Nor strew my obscure grave with flowers ; 
And when I die the world will say, 
" 'Tis well that such should pass away 1" 



Chapter IV.— Sanchez' Story. 

To what small chance we often may assign 
The great events that bless or curse mankind ; 
One moment often shapes the course of years, 
One hour decides a nation's destiny ; 
One ruthless deed may fill the world with cares, — 
One generous act may set a people free. 

Thus has it been since that disastrous day 
When Eve succumbed to Satan's subtle sway ; 
One taste from that forbidden tree of life 
Brought Death into the world, and all the strife, 
Contention, war, disease and misery fell, 
God's awful wrath ; and endless woes of hell. 

The Hebrew seer, once on the Nilus slept 
In a frail bark — was thus from danger kept. 
While Israel's daughters wept the stern decree 
That doomed their sons in helpless infancy. 



54 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

*' As^countless as the stars that gem the sky 
Or sands that on the ocean's margins lie," 
The Promise said, — "God's freeborn sons shall be!' 
And these by Amram's son were all set free. 

The issue of an hour on Basting's bloody field 

Made the bold Saxon to the Norman yield ; 

The random shaft that pierced brave Harold's 

brain, 
Made William king of Albion's Domain, 
Though, with his serfs, the Conqueror passed away 
His deeds survived : even in the present day 
Their power is felt to earth's remotest plain. 
They glow in every page, — ring in each martial 

strain. 

And often, those wdiose genius shines afar, 

The sons of Literature, of Art and War 

Owe all their fame, and all their boasted power 

To the events of some forgotten hour. 

And sometimes too, the reprobate whose name 

Is tarnished with the damning stains of shame, 

But for some taunt, some word in anger given 

Would have pursued the narrow way to heaven. 

Again has night, her curtain spread, 
Again the stars gleam overhead, 
And o'er the undulating sea 
Have shadows fallen silently. 
The breeze is blowing fair astern, 
The^ship across the billows glides, 



THE GAZELL, 55 

The lights that in her cabin burn 
Gleam phantom-like across the tides. 
And death, the spectre grim and dark 
Soars silently above that bark ; 
But still his form remains unseen, 
And deem they not that he is near, 
None see his sickle bright and keen. 
And none his rushing pinions hear : 
But ere again the morning breaks, 
Ere Nature from her sleep awakes. 
He shall with downward waft of wing, 
His summons to the corsair bring. 
The pirate feels it, yet no grief 
Is pictured on his pallid brow, 
For death alone can bring relief 
Unto his weary senses now. 
And with a sad yet tranquil mien, 
He gazes on that last bright scene. 
That shall upon his senses break 
Ere from eternal sleep they wake. 
But as he to the end draws near 
His soul is filled with the great fear. 
That he may perish ere they know 
The story of his crime and woe. 
So rousing from death's lethargy 
His long patiietic story told 
Even while the clammy dew of death 
Was gathering on him fast and cold ; — 

" My sufferings will soon be o'er, 
I tread alone the shadowy shore 
Of that mysterious, silent sea, 
That trackless waste, Eternity ! 



56 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS^ 

could I but on Calvary stand 
And view God's shining glory land, 
How sweetly, gladly would I die 

To gain that happier world on high I 
And yet I grieve not, for 'tis well, 
For even the direst woes of hell. 
Can scarce exceed the intense pain 
Of broken heart and burning brain I 

Ye know full well what I am now. 
Yet Fortune once upon me smiled. 
Once decked with fairest flowers my brow, 
And claimed me as her favorite child. 

1 was a father's pride and joy, 
A mother's solace and delight. 

And oft they prayed, — " God bless our boy, 
And guide his youthful feet aright !" 

Our dwelling was a stately hall, — 
An ancient castle grand and tall, 
Its battlements and lofty tower 
Recalling days of Moorish power. 
It stood beside that gentle river, 
The sweet and placid Gualdaquiver, 
Where day by day the boatman's song, 
And carols of the muleteer 
Bourne by the balmy breeze along 
Would lightly fall upon the ear : 
At eve the neighboring convent's bell 
Would vibrate on the scented air, 
And of a Savior's mercy tell, 
Or call the faithful ones to prayer. 



THE GAZELL. 57 

How sweet it was each day to feel 
The Spirit's presence and to kneel 
To Him who freely, gladly, gave 
His life, the sons of men to save. 

Then, heaven above me brightly shone ! — 

The dazzling streets, the great white throne, — 

The mansions, the eternal halls, 

The gates of pearl, — the Jasper walls, — 

The city, and its king divine 

I saw, in faith, and deemed them mine! 

Nor could that happy guileless pair, 

Who breathed the empyrean air, 

More happy and more blest have been, 

Ere, Satan, the foul man of sin, 

Entered Eden's precincts fair 

And blighted every blessing there. 

My heart was just as free from care. 

Above me spread as cloudless skies ; 

I breathed as i^ure and healthful air ; 

And even the plants of Paradise 

Were never decked with fairer flowers 

Than graced our Andaiansian bowers : 

And even the fruit of the divine 

Forbidden tree did never shine, 

More temptingly and fair to view 

Than that which in old Seville grew. 

Our wealth was great ; — we ever had 
All that could make the glad more glad ! 
And oft my youthful feet would stray 
Through courts and princely circles gay, 



58 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And stately lords and ladies fair 
Would softly stroke my raven hair, 
And in their courtly style would praise 
My prattle and my artless ways. 
Or speaking fair of manhood's prime 
Would to my eager mind unfold, 
A path in life bestrewn with gold, 
And leading up to heights sublime ! 

Thus passed the hours of youth away, 

And life grew happier day by day, 

For there was one, — a beauteous maid 

With whom in childhood I had played 

For whom I formed as pure a love 

As ever angel felt above, — 

'Twas no misguided, base desire 

'Twas Heaven's approved and hallowed fire ! 

You deem it strange such things should be ;- 

That I, the scourge of this fair sea, 

Was once a lovely guileless boy, 

A father's hope a mother's joy. 

Yet is it true ; and as I said 

Love once its holy influence shed 

Upon my life, — its light divine 

Illumined once this soul of mine ! — 

I at her shrine once daily knelt 

And all her holy influence felt. 

She loved me and at close of day 
We, hand in hand would often stray 
Beside the gentle murmuring river ; 



THE GAZELL. 59 

And as we watched the shining stream 
Grow rosy with the day's last beam, 
I thought that life would go forever 
As sweetly, tranquilly along 
In sunshine, happiness and song ! — 
I dreamed not of the storm and blast ; 
The mighty ocean which at last, 
In rain and sunshine, calm or gale 
An outcast, I perforce would sail. 

What long and hopeless, better years 
Have fled midst ceaseless strife and tears, 
Since 'neath the mighty tower tall 
Of Seville's grand Cathedral hail, 
Those blessed holy vows were plighted 
Which Sanchez and his bride united ! 
A thousand stars gleamed overhead, 
A thousand lamps their radiance shed 
On lovely maids, brave cavilliers. 
On mighty princes, stately peers ; 
But midst that vast assemblage there 
Was none more virtuous and fair 
Than the dear maiden at my side,— 
My Inez, my own lovely bride. 

Five happy years soon passed away : 
Time seemed to fly on golden wing 
And every separate sunny day 
Broke only some new joy to bring. 
My Inez was all tenderness ; 
And soon a lovely boy did bless 
Our union, and my life did seem 
Not real but a happy dream. 



60 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Then first did sorrow's shadow fall 

Athwart our fair and sunny way : 

And yet the spectre was so small 

I thought it soon would pass away ; 

In truth, it scarce a semblance bore 

To those black clouds, which darkling o'er 

Our lives, excludes the blessed light 

And leaves the soul as dark as night. 

And yet misfortune oft assumes 

At first the guise of happiness. 

And decked with Hope's resplendent plumes 

Leads on to darkness and distress. 

So 'tw^as with us : my sovereign told 

My father where rich stores of gold, 

And gems in many a glittering pile, 

Were treasured in some western isle ; — 

Told of impending danger there, 

Of pirate and of Buccaneer. — 

Of friends rapacious as the foe. 

And lastly, if he would but go 

And guard the mighty interests there 

He should in all the profits share. 

Euled by the subtle power of gold, 
That source of wrong and crime untold. 
That monarch that doth ever reign 
Triumphant in the human brain. 
We went ; and yet some bitter tears 
We shed upon the soil of Spain, 
When we bethought how many years 
Would pass ere we'd behold again 



THE GAZELL. 61 

The faces of our friends, the tall 
Quaint towers of our Cathedral hall. 
And all those scenes which men revere, — 
Forsaken, yet to memory dear. 

Day after day, day after day. 
With gentle, swaying, constant motion 
We kept our way across the ocean. 
We saw each morn the golden sun 
Rise from the undulating deep ; 
We saw each night his fiery disc 
Beneath the waters sink to sleep ! 
And O how sweet it at eve 
To tread the buoyant deck and leave 
In fancy, everything behind. 
And let the ever restless mind 
Soar where it would on tireless wing ! 
O then how soon would memory bring 
Her sacred volume and unfold 
Those blessed scenes that ne'er grow old ! 
Oft, as the waves would round us swell. 
We'd hear the distant convent bell. 
We'd hear, or least would seem to hear ; — 
' Te Deum,"" and the voice of prayer 
Ascending from a lowly shrine 
Up to a listening ear divine ! 
And yet I could but restive feel 
For though my mind would often steal 
Forebodings of some horrid doom, 
Which like the deep unnatural gloom, 
Obscuring heaven doth oft presage 
The coming tempest's furious rage. 



62 ELSINORE AhW OTHER POEMS. 

But all forebodings passed away 
When through the kindling twilight gray, 
The crew discried a golden strand, 
And their loud thrilling cry of land 
Broke o'er the great, majestic ocean. 
O with what glad intense emotion, 
From that lone ship, each eager glance 
Was turned across the broad expanse, 
Toward the lofty isle that lay, 
Still wrapped in shadows far away ! 
But as we nearer to it drew, 
And as the kindling morn advaiiced, 
A beauteous scene burst on our view 
Which every eye at once entranced. 
Before us was a long low shore 
Which to its very margins bore 
Dense forests of ta,ll tropic trees ; 
Which swaying in the morning breeze 
A thousand varying scenes displayed, — 
A myriad nooks of light and shade. 
There grew^ the tall and stately palm, 
The orange flowers exhaling balm. 
And all those spicy plants that grow 
Where never ending Summers glow. 
And birds of every size and hue 
Amid the tossing branches flew ; 
Their pure, and oft repeated lays, 
Commingling from a thousand throats 
Rang a melodious hymn of praise 
As sw^eet as e'er through Eden floats ! 



THE GAZELL. 63 

On, on, we swept, our pathway lay 
O'er tranquil seas ; and day by day 
We sailed by lofty isles that shone 
With all the beauties of that zone, 
Where Summer reigns the livelong year, 
And scatters with an open hand 
Eich blessings on her favored land ! 
No harrowing thoughts engendering care, 
Engrossed our quiet minds the while 
We passed each wild untrodden isle : 
Forgotten was that distant shore 
Which we were never to see more. 

At length the steady favoring breeze 
Subsided, — and the azure seas 
Grew motionless, — the limpid sails 
Hung useless on each tapering mast. 
The ocean like a mirror vast 
Eeflected every glancing beam 
And made the azure billows seem 
As hot as the unclouded sky 
That glowed like molten brass on high. 

By a tall shore, the livelong day 
All motionless the vessel lay 
Until night drew her mantle o'er 
The blazing sky and gleaming shore. 
Then many an humble faithful prayer 
Ascended through the starlit air 
Up to the great white throne above. 
Beseeching the great God of love 
To send again the favoring breeze 
To waft us on across the seas. 



64 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And we were heard, — a sweeping gale 
Filled every broad and snowy sail 
And on toward the distant West 
Before the blessed wind we pressed. 

But with the daylight's kindling flame 

A new and fearful danger came. 

A danger that at first we deemed 

A blessing, for no sail had gleamed 

For weeks across the heaving blue ; 

And lovelier craft ne'er met the view 

Of weary seamen than the bark 

That now rose o'er the billows dark. 

You know full well how wanderers hail 

The first appearance of a sail, 

With what wild joy, intense emotion 

They meet upon the boundless ocean ! 

That joy was ours ; — the lonely sea. 

The solitude, the vacancy. 

For long and dreary weeks had been 

The only dull unchanging scene 

From kindling East till darkening West 

On which the weary eye could rest. 

We thought them friends, we felt no fear. 
And fast the stranger ship drew near : — 
As fine a craft as ever yet 
One inch of snowy canvass set. 
From the tall masts were banners streamins 
And on her decks bright cannon gleaming- 
While 'neatli her long and shapely spars 
Were groups of merry blue clad tars : 



THE GAZELL. 65 

A goodlier ship, a worthier crew, 
I thought, had never met my view. 

We shouted in our wild mad joy, 
And soon their welcome cry, — " ahoy." 
Loud as a herald's trumpet blast 
Came ringing o'er the ocean vast. 
No other word the villain spoke 
But from his gleaming cannon broke 
A sheet of flame, — a blast of hell 
And many a noble Spaniard fell. 
Bereft of reason ^ sore amazed, — 
Upon the corsair ship we gazed 
Till o'er our guards her grapnels rang 
And on our decks her seamen sprang, 
With one triumphant cry alone. 
And our good ship was all their own. 
They drove us straitway to the hold, — 
Its atmosphere all damp and cold ; 
And here within this living tomb, 
Amid the pestilential gloom, 
Tossed by a wild tempestuous sea 
We stood in helpless agony. 
Above our prison we could hear 
The fiendish threats, the cries of fear, — 
Entreaties of our outraged wives, — 
Our children pleading for their lives ; — 
The brutal curse, the dying groan, 
The heartless laughter, — and the moan 
Of the ill-fated ones who craved 
Death at the hands of fiends depraved. 



66 ELSINOBE AND OTHER POEMS. 

They plundered their ill-gotten prize 
Of all its costly merchandise ; — 
Then pierced the heavy timbers through ; 
We heard a gurgling sound and knew 
That the " Alhambra" soon would be 
At rest beneath the azure sea. 

O God ! how terrible, to feel 
The chilling waters upward steal 
About our shrinking forms, the while 
The demons at us seemed to smile 
From the dense darkness and to clasp 
Us firmly in their chilling grasp ! 
'Twas fearful — we united made 
One effort at the barricade, 
It crashed and yielded and the light 
Broke dazzlingly upon our sight ! 

O must — O can I tell thee more ! — 
There 'neath the evening twilight gray 
Her outraged form all stained with gore 
In death's last sleep my Inez lay ! 
In her defense and by her side 
Had my old father bravely died ; 
Though stiff in death his icy hand 
Still firmly grasped his glittering brand. 

O Virgin blest, I know not why 

Thou didst not sufi'er me to die, 

In darkness and in solitude 

Ere that heartrending scene I viewed ! 



THE. GAZELL. 67 

Upon the deck I fainting fell, 
And when 1 rose the fires of hell 
Within my stricken bosom burned : 
And as I to my comrades turned, 
There, — o'er those bloody forms I swore 
To never rest on sea or shore 
'Till the last Buccaneer should feel 
His cursed heart pierced by my steel ! 

But O ! far better had I died 
That night beneath the ocean wide 
Than lived, as I have lived since then. 
An outcast from the haunts of men. 
An alien from the host of heaven, 
A fiend to vengeance wholly given ! 
Hate has subverted every power 
And led me lower hour by hour ; 
And every captive foe has fared 
111 at my hands, for I have spared 
No conquered corsair yet to tell 
Of Sanchez and his ship Gazell ! 

I know a thousand deeds of shame 
Have been committed in my name. 
Beneath Algeria's banner dark 
Base fiends have plundered many a bark, 
Have murdered many a worthy crew, 
And hid their hellish work from view 
Within some dark secluded cave, 
Or 'neath the ocean's trackless wave. 
And when the luckless ship no more 
Appeared at her accustomed shore. 



68 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS, 

'Twas said : ' ' Sanchez the crew has slain 
And sunk the ship beneath the main." 

Since that dark night, with frenzy wild 
I've sought my mother and my child ; 
Yet all my efforts proved in vain, 
I never saw them both again. 
And not until that fearful day 
When first we met in desperate fray, 
Did I behold again that one 
Survivor of my race, — my son. 
Then 'gainst his life I raised my hand 
And madly sought to drive my brand 
Into that being, whom, for years 
I'd sought with ceaseless pain and tears. 
And yet I knew not, and would ne'er 
Have felt his blessed presence near, 
Had you ne'er given unto me 
This signet and its history. 
The rescued, cherished little one 
Now known as Herman is my son. 
But tell him not until my form 
Beneath the mighty deep is laid. 
Then tell — that with affection warm 
And with my dying voice I prayed. 
That God would be his friend and guide 
Upon life's ocean stern and wide ; — 
Tell him that only virtue leads 
Through scenes of perfect happiness ; 
That evil thoughts and evil deeds 
Are fruitful only of distress !" — 



THE GAZELL. gg 

He ceased, and those aboiifc him knew 
The end was near and closer drew 
To hear the last faint, whispered word 
That ever from those lips was heard. 
He smiled and said as in a dream 
' Inez I come ! — O Father — Son, 
Forgive an erring sinful one !" 

The tale was told ; the wanderer was dead : 
And eyes unused to weep their dewy tribute shed^ 
To him whose pulseless heart would ne'er again 
Beat fast with hope or heave with subdued pain. 
The Book was closed — his virtue and his crime 
Were entered on the changeless scroll of Time. 
His spirit passed to that eternal throne 
Of Him who views the tiny sparrow's fail, — 
There all his deeds, — and there his fate is known; 
And that eternal bar awaits us all. 



70 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 



A Leaf from the History of 
Merryloell College. 

Certain persons who live near Merrybell College 
Concluded long since that much of the knowledge 
Their children acquired in the Public Free Schools 
Was but tke loose doctrine of coxcombs and fools. 
And so they decided, at once, to withdraw 
Their children from schools provided by law 
And formed a High School at old Merrybell 
Where children could learn to read, write, and spell 
Without wasting their time gaining knowledge 

abstruse 
Relating to words, derivation and use. 
The tax that we pay is Sin tax enough," 
These savans exclaimed, and as for such stuff 
As Jography, Algebra, Histry a,nd such 
They are useless, we think, as the creed of the Dutch. 

So they hired a man, who, for limited pay 

Would serve them, at least, nine hours a day ; 

A '■^competent'" teacher who further agreed 

To support their new educational creed, 

And they opened the school and all things were well 

For a very few days at Old Merrybell. 

Then, sad to relate, a very small class. 

Consisting of only a lad and a lass, 

In conning their lessons a paragraph found 

That said the Earth, like an orange, is round. 



HUMOROUS. 71 

Imagine how soon this fragment of knowledge 
Created a scene in Merrjbeli College ; 
The children at once their lessons forsook 
And crowded around the wonderful book. 

" Now what is the matter?" the pedagogue cried, 
And several small urchins in chorus replied : 

" Johnny Wilkins, dear sir, has just told us all 
That the world we live in is round as a ball." 

" He's a liar !" in anger the wiseacre cried, 

" I'll teach the young villain what it is to have lied ! 
Johnny Wilkins, come here, you ignorant brat 
And tell me who taught you a doctrine like that?" 
Johnny tremblingly answered, ''I'm sure I don't 

know 
Whether it be round or not, but the book it said so !" 

" The book ! — you young scoundrel, and what if the 
book 
Did say it you blockhead, you had but to look : 
For look where you will and the old earth is flat. 
As flat as a flounder, as flat as a stool, 
As flat as the floor, or this seasoned ferule 
Which I mean to lay on, and straightway at that 
Till you learn to distinguish between round and flat. " 

Johnny whimpered and begged, but did him no 

good. 
For down came at once the seasoned beech wood 
So fearfully fast that soon he forgot 
Whether the book said the world existed or not, 
Of one thing he was sure, or so he declared 
That always in future, his life being spared, 
He'd sit on a sheepskin, a cushion or mat 
And solemnly swear that all things are flat. 



72 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

WEALTH. 

Some call Wealth a wanton, and many rebuke her, 
Yet who does not love the old strumpet " Lucre?" — 
The farmer, the squire, the saint and the sinner 
Are happy as " clams" if they only can win her. 

I care not, though thousands she may have betrayed. 

And wielded full often the murderer's blade, 

I love, and will win her if ever I can 

So I give you fair notice, — I'm your rival, my man. 



EVOLUTION. 

Certain sages who claim descent from the monkey 
More credence would gain if they'd only say donkey. 
The resemblance they bear and their reasoning com- 
bined 
Would convince, I am sure, the most skeptical mind. 



AN EXCEPTION. 

'' Vanity ! Vanity, saith the preacher. 
Surely all is vanity ! — 
Unless you slay a fellow creature 
Then best say, ' insanity.^ " 



HUMOROUS. 73 



"MADAM RUMOR." 

Gentle neighbors, heard you never, 
When foul scandals circulate, 
All the shame and the dishonor 
Laid at Madam Rumor's gate. 

This accommodating liar 
Lately put me out of humor 
And I fain was to enquire 
Who is this base falsifier, 
Who, indeed, is Madam Rumor? 

I have had a hundred answers, 
But my soul is still aflame, — 
Everybody knows the lady 
But each gives a dilferont name. 



WILD FLOWERS. 75 

A CoHection of FugitiYe Poems. 

SALUTATORY. 

Respected friends, you ne'er may know 
How long, how faithfully I wrought 

In pain, in sorrow, sun and snow 

Upon the tangled fields of thought : — 

You cannot know what weariness 
Eneryed me, and what dreary hours 

I roamed alone the wilderness 
To glean this garland of " Wild Flowers." 

And if, perchance, they now should yield 
No fragrance, or should fail to please. 

Remember, how on wintry field 
They grew despite a chilling breeze. 

You who are glad a,nd gay may ask, 
"Why not a fairer garland weave?" — 

I answer — fate had set this task 
I might no happier work achieve ; 

For friends were false and sought to chill 
Me with unkindness, and my hand. 

So faint, could scarce obey the will. 
And death was darkening all the land. 

January 1, 1887, 



76 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 
FREDERICKSBURG. 

'Twas a clear Autumu day when first I beheld thee. 
Fair field that in memory we ever hold dear, 

And the gentle moonbeams rested softly upon thee 
And they burnished the stream flowlDg slowly anear. 

Then backward I gazed through the years swiftly fly- 
ing, 

And I saw in the light of a calm winter day 
The Blue and the Gray, death and danger defying 

Move forward to battle in dreadful array. 

Right on w^ard they rushed, like tlie waves of the ocean 
When they on the shore by the tempests are driven; 

The earth was amazed at the wondrous commotion, 
And the war cloud beleaguered the ramparts of 

hea,A^eii . 

Then the conflict was over, and the shades of night 
gathered, 

And the gentle stars beamed on the face of the dead, 
And the field was as quiet as an abbey at midnight 

When the last mitred priest his matins hath said. 

Now together like brothers are peacefully lying 
The victor and vanquished on height and by shore ; 

May the mantle of peace they purchased by dying 
Be torn and dishonored again nevermore. 



WILD FLOWERS. 'J'J 

HESPERUS. 

When the shades of night appear 

In the golden "West afar, 
Gleams thy radiant silver sphere 

Hesperus, the evening star. 

Often from the gloomy hall 

Have I seen thy mellow light 
Like an angel's glances fall, 

Hesperus, — the star of night. 

Often when at fate repining, 

And the loss of one above, 
Thou hast seemed of hope divining 

Hesperus, — the star of love. 

When the end of life draws near 

And I draw my latest breath 
May thy radiant disc appear 

Shining o'er me, star of death. 

When in the lone grave I'm sleeping, 

Ended, every care and strife, 
Other eyes their vigils keeping 

Shall behold tliee, star of life ! 



78 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS, 



THE HARP OF ORPHEUS. 

Orpheus' harp the poets tell 
Played in Pluto's drear domain 
Could release a soul from hell 
And subdue Tantallus' pain. 
Moved by its mysterious tones 
Trees would to the plain advance, — 
Join with hills and ponderous stones 
In a wild and weird dance. 

When the poet's days were spent 
Angels placed his mystic lyre 
In the spacious firmament 
Mid the glowing orbs of fire ; 
Then the mighty worlds of light 
Charmed by the melodious sound 
Onward through the realm of night 
Rushed in mazy circles round. 



TO RYAN. 

I love thee, bard, though [ have never viewed 
Thy friendly face, nor clasped thy gentle hand, 
Yet oft I've seemed to walk the solitude 
With thee, and with thy spirit so imbued 
That all the earth was fair as fairy land. 



WILD FLOWERS. 79 



'• NO MORE." 

Adieu sweet girl, alas, adieu ! — 

My blissful dream is o'er, 
Though faithful I have been and true 

Thou canst love me no more ! 

No more ! the long and changeless years 

Shall slow^ly pass away 
Yet through the mists of falling tears 

Shall dawn no brighter day. 

The flowers will bloom in the gay Spring time. 

The birds their glad songs sing, 
But alas ! alas ! — nor sun, nor clime 

New joy to me can bring. 

The brooks shall murmur a song of praise 

From the hills the torrents pour, 
But in their songs, I'll hear always 

The cruel w^ords. "no more !" 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 

The foe in confusion were flying 
From the scene of the terrible fray, 

While wounded, bleeding and dying 
The invincible Stonewall lay. 



80 EL8IN0RE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Yet still, in fancy, he was leading 

His legion after the fight, 
At God's holy altar was pleading 

For aid in the cause of the right. 

But the arrows were gone from the quiver, 
The cup was drained to the lees, 

As he cried, " Let us cross o'er the river 
And rest under the shade of the trees !" 

None heard the rush of the waters, 
None heard the plash of the oar, 

But the leader, forever departed, 
And the army wept by the shore. 



AMBROSE HALL. 

Lightly the aspens quiver, 
The zephyr gently blows. 

And brightly gleams the river 
That in the distance flows. 

Sweetly murmurs the fountain, 
And the waters constant fall 

Wakes a thousand echoes 
In stately Ambrose Hall. 

But a suggestive quiet 

Pervades each princely room. 
And every face is shrouded 

With sorrow's pall of gloom. 



WILD FLO WEES. 81 

The young, the pure and lovely 

That mansion's joy and light, 
After long months of anguish 

Has perished in the night. 

But while the shades were falling 

Ere the bright spirit fled, 
She roused her from Iier lethargy 

And in sad accents said : 

" My father, since I'm passing 
From time's familiar shore, 
You will forgive my speaking 
Of your lost son once more. 

Your words of anger drove him 
From country, friends and home, 

He nov/ a lonely wanderer 
In other climes doth roam. 

O blame him not, my father , 

That he loves Annie Lee, 
For she has been the dearest 

Of earthly friends to uie. 

In the sweet hours of childhood 

We e'er together played, 
The rich-man's petted daughter, 

And the lone orphan maid. 



82 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And when her gentle mother, 

The Lady Alice died, 
You said you'd care for Annie 

Whatever might betide. 

She e'er was pure and lovely 
In everything was true ; 

Nor were your children dearer 
Than she was unto you. 

She loves my brother Edward 
Far more than her own life, 

And years ago she promised 
Sometime to be his wife. 

Because she had no treasure 
You drove her from your door. 

But surely you will pardon 
The crime of being poor. 

Father, again unite them 

For angels up above 
Could never be more worthy 

Of exiled Edward's love !" 

Upon his aged features 
She fixed her glazing eye : — 
"Father forgive" — 'twas over 
Her spirit passed on high. 



WILD FLOWERS. 83 

All night the stricken father 

Has paced the lonely hall, 
And on the floor continuously 

The briny tear drops fall. 

His soul is stricken in him 

By this decree of fate ; 
And he murmurs sadly murmurs 
"Too late ! alas too late !" 

"And yet, O God, thou knowest 
That I would gladly give 
All save the hope of heaven 
To bid him once more live. 

He and my foster daughter 

Should then united be, 
They in my age would cherish, 

Would soothe and comfort me. 

And yet I could not tell her 

Before she passed away, 
She had an angel brother 

In everlasting day. 

Ther'll be a joyous meeting 

Neath heavens concave dome 
When the brother welcomes 

The angel sister home. 



34 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

O Father ! — God have mercy 
And bear me soon away, 

The world is dark and dreary 
I would no longer stay !" 

He turned away in anguish 
And now-- a form discried : 
"My Edward, O my Edward !" 
"Father !" — the son replied. 

" My long lost son, my Edward ! — 
It surely can not be. 
For long ago he perished 
Beneath the deep blue sea !" 

" Nay, father dear, the ship went down 
On that disastrous night, 
But to a broken spar I clung 
Until the morning light. 

And I alone, my father. 
Was rescued from the deep, 

Beneath the crested surges 
The rest unconscious sleep. 

And I depart to-morrow 
For a home beyond the sea. 

And I shall carry with me 
The a'entle Annie Lee I 



WILD FLOWERS. g5 

So fare thee well my father, 

And since we meet no more 
You surely will forgive me 

And love me as of yore !" 

The father clasped him wildly ; — 
"I will not say farewell ! 
But thou shalt marry Annie Lee 
And ever with me dwell." 



Ten years have past. The river 
Still in the sunlight flows, 

And still in the breezes quiver 
The aspens at Ambrose ; 

Still gently plays the fountain 
And its murmurs sweetly fall. 

Mingled with childish voices 
On stately Ambrose Hall. 

And oft the aged grand sire 
Joins in the children's play 

Or with fond eye pursues them 
Through all the livelong day. 



gQ ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

SLEEP. 

Sleep is the counterpart of that last sleep, — 
The sleep of Death that no awakening knows, — 
In this alone ; sleep sets the spirit free 
From its un wieldly, cumberous home of clay 
To soar a season wheresoe'er it will. 
Sometimes I've thought, 

Perchance, in sleep our spirits may commune 
With other spirits from a world unknown. 
" To reason thus were madness," some will say ; 
Yet 'tis a pleasing mania to believe 
We may, in dreams, behold our cherished dead, 
And hold such converse with them as we held 
In days gone by, ere the pale angel Death 
Transfixed them with his keen remorseless dart. 

Ofttimes in sleep, our spirits unrestrained 
Soar past the moon, beyond the Plead es, 
Through regions vast unlit by sun or star 
And onward still through realms still unconceived 
Through Heaven's gates, and o'er the shining walla, 
Elysian fields, pure chrystal streams, 
Imposing towers, and streets of gleaming gold- 
Else, fancy with one downward waft of wing 
Descends through drear untra versed depths of space 
Until the eye beholds, in outline dim, 
The dread and shadowy forms of deathless men 
Oondemned for aye to bask in seas of fire. 



WILD FLOWERS. 37 

STANZAS. 

The clouds that fill the earth with gloom 
Make Spring time bright with bud and bloom, 
And crown with fruits and social cheer 
The golden season of the year. 

Then why at destiny complain 
When sorrow, like the clouds and rain, 
In God's appointed time may prove 
Man's richest blessing from above. 



THE CAPTIVES. 

The captives sat by the river 
Their souls sad and downcast, 

As they thought of the hapless present 
And the bright and glorious past. 

For the lofty walls of Zion 
W(Te now in dust low laid, 

And the temple desecrated 

Where priest and prince had prayed. 

And those that led them captive, 

To do them further wrong. 
Now that the day was ended 

Required of them a song. 



88 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Said the Chaldee : " Sing of David, 
Your King in bygone days, 

Who led your hosts to battle 
And wrote your songs of praise. 

Yea ! sing the warrior's sonnet, 
The Hebrew's sacred psalm 

That lulls like evening breezes 
Among the groves of palm !" 

But on the willows' branches 
The captives hung each lute, 

And sat in gloomy silence 
And every tongue was mute. 

For they remembered Zion 

Even in captivity, 
And swore that they would sing no more 

Till she again was free. 



THE PALACE OF HOPE. 

Some where in the mazy distance, 
In the midst of fields elysian, 
Stands a grand imposing castle, 
Builded by the phantom Fancy. 
With the clouds its turrets mingle, 
And its lofty halls are fairer 
Than the golden courts of heaven. 



WILD FLO WERS. 89 

Every man, however humble, 
Fallen, destitute or friendless, 
Sees a place within that castle 
Suited to his ardent wishes 
To his souls desire conforming. 

In that grand enchanted mansion 
All is joy and rapture ever. 
For desire is never fettered 
By the galling bands of conscience, 
And our wishes ne'er are thwarted 
By the changing hand of fortune. 
There the victor has no rivals, — 
Wears alone the crown of laurel ; 
There, in glad seraphic measure 
Poets sing to listening nations ; 
There the fields with fruits perennial 
Bless the weary sons of labor ; 
Beggars there are lords and princes 
Clad in gold and costly raiment. 

Eagerly, with hands uplifted 
Forward press the generations 
Towards the fair delusive prospect, 
And this joyous exclamation 
Ever comes from the deluded : 
" We shall reach the goal to-morrow !'" 
When the purple shades of twilight 
Mark another day's cessation, 
And the stars, like funeral torches, 
All along the sky are lighted, 
With a zeal still unabated, — 



90 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Expectation undiminished. 
Still with joyous exultation 
Cry the weary sons of sorrow : — 
*' We shall reach the goal to-morrow !" 

Thus the future ever woos us 
Onward with its bright illusions, 
Till the silver chord is severed, 
And the pitcher at the fountain 
By Death's ruthless hand is broken. 

Even when the angel Azrael 
Soars above with la) ice uplifted, 
And the rush of his black pinions, 
Echoes through the ghostly darkness,- 
Through the shadows densely falling, 
O'er the grave and all its horrors 
Looms afar a land of Promise 
Brightly gleams a golden city. 



THE CHASE. 

The East is red vrith coming morn, 
And the loud peal of hunter's horn 
Awakes each youthful mountaineer 
The merry sylvan sport to share. 
The valley echoes with the sound 
Of tramping horse and baying hound 
As down the narrow, rocky glade, 
Swiftly rides the cavalcade 



WILD FLOWERS. 9X 

Toward the thick and tang led glen 
Where lurks the wild fox in his den. 

Each youth can of marauder tell 
That, stealing on by fen and fell 
All unobserved at high raid-day 
Bore unsuspecting fowl away. 
And so the tale goes swift around : 
Each huntsman tells of fox or hound 
That in the chase did far exceed 
All others both in craft and speed. 

Just at the mountain s base extends 

A tangled waste of woods and fens, 

Perplexed with brambles and with thorn; 

Here, as they pause, the hunter's horn 

Re-echoes o'er tlie landscape fair 

And wakes the wild fox in his lair. 

He hears afar the fearful sounds, 

The hunters' shouts, the bay of hounds, 

And filled with terror and surprise 

He swiftly through the forest flies : 

As well he may for now the hounds 

Free from restraint, with quickening bounds 

Press on witii merry cry amain 

And soon the tangled woodland gain. 

Sly Reynard thou hadst ne'er such need 
As now for all thy craft and speed. 
Thy enemies are on thy trail 
And speed alone will not avail. 



92 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

On ! on ! by stream and dark morass 
The dogs now like whirlwind pass, 
And madly on by brook and mere 
The horses dash in wild career 
Till they no longer may essay 
To follow in such dangerous way ! 

Upon a brooklets mossy brink, 

The tired horses stop to drink 

The laughing horsemen, too, dismount 

And slake their thirst at sylvan fount ; 

Then urge along with lu&ty cheers 

The train that swiftly disappears. 

The cries grow faint and fainter still 

Till all is silent save the rill, 

And the low murmur of the breeze 

Among the sombre forest trees. 

Not long the huntsmen wait — the wail 
Comes floating back upon the gale 
Loud and more loud, till on the plain 
Appears the yelping horde again. 
Then trebly swells the mingled cry 
As the impatient horsemen fly 
O'er hill and plain, by stream and lake, 
■ O'er rock and rift, through branch and brake, 
Each eager that his favorite may 
First seize the fox and win the day. 
But though the noble horses strain 
Behind the half -exhausted train. 
We cannot reach the narrow glade 
Till Reynard on the ground is laid. 



WILD FLOWERS. 93 

And as we slowly homeward ride 
Each hunter still maintains with pride 
That in wild chase through wood and dell 
His hounds all others do excel. 



MYRA. 



I had loved a gentle maiden 
More than tongue or pen can tell, 

When a cruel, baseless slander 
Smote her like a blast from hell. 

And the friends I loved and cherished 
Spoke of her with bitter scorn, 

And I cursed the hour I met her, 
Cursed the day when I was born. 

Once — but once, again I saw her 
And she pleaded with me long, 
With her arms about me crying, 
"Darling, I have done no wrong !" 

Only listen to me darling — 
Time will blot out every stain ! — 

But I scorned her wild entreaties 
And we never met again. 

For her gentle heart was broken 
And erelong her spirit fled, 

Then, too late, the truth was spoken,— 
Justice done the virtuous dead. 



94 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

O could I recall her spirit 
From the bright celestial shore, — 

Clasp her gently to my bosom, — 
Kiss her, as I did of yore, — 

Could I hear her pale lips utter 
That one heavenly word, " forgive,' 

I, perchance might cease to sorrow, 
Might again desire to live. 



THANKSGIVING, 1887. 

O God omnipresent !— O Father of all. 

We come with rejoicing before Thee to-day, — 

With hearts overflowing thy love we recall. 
And the bountiful blessings that brightened our way 

The joys all unnumbered that brighten the year 
By Thy provident hand to Thy children are given ; — 

Home, country, companions, yea all we hold dear, — 
All we cherish on earth, or hope for in heaven. 

O God omnipresent ! O Father of all, 
We pray that Thy Spirit may lighten the way, 

That Thou wilt sustain us whatever befall. 
And grant us a home in thy presence for aye. 



WILD FLOWERS. 95 

THE "VALLEY AND SHADOW." 

Somewhere there's a shadowy valley, — 

Men call it the valley of Death 
And tell of the horrows that haunt it 

"With qaick and laboring breath. 

But J have dwelt in the valley 
Through long and painful years, 

And I know its ghosts are illusions 
Begot of sinful fears. 

For through the mists of the valley 

Rise lofty, snowy walls, 
And a friendly voice in the distance 

To the weary pilgrim calls. 

And I turn my eyes from the valley 

To the hill tops far away. 
And I see the towers of Zion 

In the light of endless day. 

And I know that when the valley 

And its shadows shall be past 
That a home beyond the valley 

Awaits my soul at last. 



96 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

STANZAS. 

Thou wast too fair and gracious to endure 
The rugged conflicts on the field of life ; 

And thou hast fallen, the innocent and pure, 
Where duty called in the unequal strife. 

And thou hast gone unto a happier clime ; 

The form that here sleeps 'neath the dewy sod 
Is the frail tenement that held in time 

Thy higher self that now communes with God. 

Had I the power, I would not now recall 
Thy spirit from its bright and blissful sphere ; 

I loved thee, and I sorrowed at thy fall, 
But sorrow most that I survive thee here. 



FAITH AND HOPE. 

Two flowers there are of heavenly birth 
Within the wilderness of earth, — 
Growing beside our narrow way : 
Brighter by contrast they appear 
As by life's highway brown and sere 
Their colors rare display. 

But like the stars, they do not shine, 
Until the glorious sun's decline, 
They in the darksome night-time bloom ; 
When fortune's gay resplendent sun 
His course across life's sky hath run 
They cheer the deepest gloom. 



WILD FLOWERS. 97 

A VISION. 

In the darkness of midnight near a lone shore 
I was warring with waves in a struggle for life. 

My efforts seemed vain , — grew louder, the roar, 
And whiter the surges — uiore desperate my strife. 

I looked to the hea.vens, still hoping to fly 
From the perils about me to a refuge on high. 

But the clouds lowered dark, and the wild shriek- 
ing blast 
Right on to my doom were driving me fast. 

One refuge bethought me ; beneath the blue wave 
In oblivion I'll rest in a lonely sea grave, 

And the surges that break on the desolate shore 
'Mid the howl of the tempest will wake me no 
more. 

Into the depths I was sinking, and lo ! even there 
I met the dark demons of woe and despair. 

And — the vision was past — and the spell it was 
broke, 
'Twas only a dream — thank God ! — I awoke. 



A QUERY. 

Another week ? What will it bring ? 

Will the fair flowers of promise bloom? 
Or will vile weeds luxuriant spring 

Upon Affection's new made tomb? 



98 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 
THE OLD AND THE NEW. 

Through the desolate forest 
The cold wind is sighing, 

The autumn is past 
The Old Year is dying. 

O'er the snow covered plain 

I see a young face, 
That ready now stands 

The Old to replace. 

And hark ! — it is midnight, — 
Dear Old Year adieu ! — 

And we drink to the welcome 
Sweet New Year of you. 



DIVES. 

Down through the ages comes the story old 
Of a rich man clad in purple cloth and gold : 
And a beggar, cursed by an unkindly fate 
Who full of sores lay at the rich man's gate ; 

Where, scarce regarded by the passing throng 
He heard the merriment, the dance and song ; 
Rejected crumbs, the story doth relate 
His only portion at the rich man's gate. 



WILD FLOWERS. 99 

Two thousand jevus, since then, have passed away 
And yet such scenes are oft beheld to-day ; 
Sore beggars still at ixiercy's portals wait 
And throng alike the prince and peasant's gate. 

Who are these suppliants, who, indeed, are they, 
Whose dog-licked forms bestrew life's narrow 

way? — 
The maimed , the halt, the poor,— unfortunate 
Of every class are starving at thy gate. 

Heed now their cries, unto their wounds attend : 
Drive hence ihe dogs, from every foe defend, 
Lest ye at length should vainly supplicate 
Admission at the Master's palace gate. 



THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES. 

'Twas believed by ancient sages 
That the planet worlds sublime. 

Rang with an unearthly cadence 
The unceasing flight of time. 

That our race, degraded, fallen, 
Never hears the glorious strain, 

That forevermore is ringing 
Throughout Nature's vast domain. 

This were yet a pleasing fancy, 
And at times I seem to hear 

Through the night seraphic measures 
Stealing from some far of! sphere. 



100 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS, 

Tones of superhuman sweetness, 
Such as angel tongues employ, 

Rousing every sense to action, — 
Thrilling every nerve with joy. 

Such is the enchanting music 
That I hear, or seem to hear. 

Stealing through the starry midnight, 
Coming from some far off sphere. 



IMPROMPTU. 

O woman, woful was the day 

When Eve transgressed the law divine 
And forth from Eden took their way. 

The stricken parents of mankind ! 

While they the lonely way pursued 
A glory filled the skies above, 

And forth from out the solitude 
Sprang the irradiant goddess, " Love." 

Then all around the desert bloomed 
Beneath the glowing ambient skies, 

While they their burden reassumed 
Forgetful even of Paradise. 



WILD FLOWERS. |01 

VESPERS. 

From each tall sky pointing steeple 
Sweet sonorous music svv^ells, 
But not for retiring hour 
Is the ringing peal of bells. 
For each mellow intonation, 
Floating through the balmy air, 
Is a blessed invitation 
To the hallowed house of prayer. 

"Come," they say, "ye broken-hearted, 
From whose souls hope has departed. 
Now is the accepted time ! 
Now the power of sin enthralls thee. 
But the blessed Savior calls thee 
And will purge away thy crime !'' 

From each tall and shapely steeple 
The deep swelling accents fall, 
While the throngs of anxious people 
Hasten to obey their call. 
And around the sacred altar 
Many rapturous praises swell, 
But no song from harp or psalter 
Wakes such music as the bell. 

Hear again their sacred story 

Of the Saviour's death and glory, 

Of his grace and love sublime. 

Through the balmy twilight ringing 

Like a choir of angels singing 

Carols in the evening time. 7 



102 . lELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 
A SIMILE. 

Like volcanic fires sleeping 
'Neath the summits clad in snow, 

Is the passionate heart keeping 
Hidden, griefs that none may know. 



PHANTASIES. 

Night has spread i^s ample curtain 

Over mount and hill and lea, 

And the moonbeams, dim, uncertain 

Are descending fitfully. 

And my soul to musing given 

Soars at will through earth and heaven 

Through the future yet to come, 

O'er the past forever gone, 

From the future culling flowers 

That perchance may never bloom, 

From the past recalling hours 

Of the deepest, direst gloom. 

Swept by memory's ruthless hand 
Tender chords vibrate once more 
Like sad echoes from the strand, 
Voices from a lonely shore, 
Telling of the years gone by 
And the loss I most deplore. 



WILD FLOWERS. 103 

And my loss were not more real 

Had I wed the beauteous maiden 

And from altars hymeneal 

She had passed to distant Aiden. 

Nor ca,n I refrain from weeping 

Though she sleeps beneath the sod, 

Though for years she has been keeping 

Sabbath in the house of God : 

For in fancy I behold her 

As she treads the halls of light, 

Not as an unearthly vision 

But a being fair and bright ! 

And the semblance of her features 

Is the same on earth she bore, 

And the smile she beams upon me 

Is the happy smile of yore. 

I gaze upon the broad expanse 

Of heaven, and all its glittering train 

Seem moving in a mazy dance 

Before my half bewildered brain ; — 

I sleep — I dream — I see a gleam 

Break o'er the dewy earth 

Bright as the skies of Paradise 

When day first had its birth ; 

I hear the high arch of the sky 

With heavenly music ring. 

As cherubim and seraphim 

Proclaim Messiah king. 

I see afar the herald star 

Gleam o'er the desert's waste. 

And seer and sage, though bent with age, 

With youthful ardor haste 



104 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

To Bethlehem with many a gem 
To greet the wondrous child, 
God's only Son, the lowly one, 
Born in the manger wild. 

And now one of the radiant throng. 
Stooping from the heights of air, 
Bears my dreaming soul along 
Through the skies serene and fair. 
Upward onward till afar 
Earth gleams, itself a silver star 
Set in the gloomy void of night. 
Yet onward, upward still we soar 
By moons and gleaming worlds of light 
Until before my startled eyes 
Appear the gates of Paradise. 

Open, tiie pearly portals swing ; 

And dear familiar voices sing 

A welcome to earth's wandering child. 

I gaze about with raptures wild 

For mortal eye, before I ween 

Has never looked on this fair scene. 

" Fear not," the seraph said, " I'll guide 
Thee through the city great and wide :" 
And leading to a spacious field, 
A field o'ergrown with heavenly flowers, 
He said, "To thee I will reveal 
The spot where Michael and the powers 
Of Heaven fought, when Satan, tired 
Of peaceful times, madly aspired 



WILD FLOWERS. 105 

The highest power himself to gain 
And over heaven a despot reign. 
From yonder shining height he fell 
When God hurled hence his host to hell !'' 

I heard the everlasting song- 
Peal through the miglicy arch sublime ; 
I saw the vast and radiant throng. 
The blest of every age and clime ; 
I saw the matchless great white throne 
Where all at judgment must api3ear; 
I saw the mighty scroll whereon 
The angel keeps the Record there : 
And as he wrote, I saw him weep 
As if he felt some intense pain 
That he perforce must ever keep 
A record with so many a stain. 
I heard the Saviuor as he plead 
To wash those damning stains away, 
And from some vast height overhead 
I heard a voice of tiiunder say : — 
" O Son, Thou didst perform my will 
And highest power I give to Thee ; 
Poor fallen Man, I love him still. 
And for Thy sake I set him free !" 

There was a sound within my ears 
Like rolling seas or falling spheres, 
And I awoke in awe to find 
All, but a phantom of the mind. 



106 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

In silence long I lay and mused, 
The import of that dream divining ; 
Until a glow the smi diffused 
That dimmed the stars afcoYe me shining; 
And as I left my lowly bed 
With swelling heart and tearful eyes, 
"Whatever hence befall," I said, 
I've had one glimpse of Paradise. 



NATURE AND MAN. 

All things in the vast universe, 

In God's majestic plan, 
Serve to promote the happiness 

Of Heaven's favorite — Man. 

To each there is a sphere assigned, 

To each a task is given, — 
Each does its part — a myriad powers 

Perform the work of Heaven. 

And evermore conjointly they 

Their labors vast perform, 
Just as the winds and clouds unite 

Ere they produce a storm. 

Without the sun no spectral mists 

Would from the ocean rise, 
Without the winds no clouds would drift 

Across the ambient skies. 



WILD FLOWERS. 107 

Without the clouds no rain would fall 

Upon the thirsty ground. 
Without the rain no living thing 

Would on the earth be found. 

And these in turn would serve no end 

In the harmonious plan, 
But for creation's favorite 

And last created — Man. 

But to Man's power subservient 

Each must his own right yield, 
From the humblest to the mightiest 

That live in wood or field. 

The bee that hangs on buzzing wing 

Above the opening flowers, 
The cattle grazing on the plain 

Through the long Summer hours ; 

The timid hare with the hedge, 

The swiftly flying hind ; 
The goats that on the Alpine rocks 

A scanty living find. 

Are the dumb yet willing laborers 

That Providence employs 
To reap from earth the fruits which man, 

Ungrateful man, enjoys. 



108 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Old Ocean too whose billows roll 

In majesty along, 
Confers a blessing evermore 

With an unceasing song. 

We see it in the gentle rain, 

And in the murmuring rill, 
We hear the echoes of his song 

In the thunder of the mill. 

And through man's might he doth defy 

His aid he can but lend. 
For he was made by Powers most high 

Man's constant, faithful friend. 

Ye doubt ? then look where Britain heaves 
Her white cliffs from the deep, 

Through countless storms she hath defied 
The waves that 'gainst her sweep. 

Her soil is fertile and her marts 

With varied products teem. 
And busy mills make music e'er 

To every flowing stream. 

But why doth she, fair northern isle 

With fruitful seasons glow, 
While lands that further southward lie 

Are cursed with ice and snow ? 



WILD FLOWERS. 109 

Because within earth's burning zone 
Through the long changeless year, 

The sunlight falls upon the d^eij 
With ra,diance full and clear. 

• 
And as the waters northward flow 

Toward the icebound pole, 
A heated current in the sea 

Doth e'er by Britain roll. 

Each crested, undulating surge 

That thunders on her shore. 
Imparts its blessing as it breaks 

With hoarse sonorous roar. 

And ever thus, the latent beams 

Bourne hither by the sea, 
Wield their soft power on the plain, 

On mountain hill and lea. 

And yet proud Albion claims to be 

The " Mistress " of the deep, 
She is not mistress, but the child 

Of tides that northward sweep. 

The vast and rugged mountains too, 

Gray monuments of time. 
Whose snowy peaks aspire to pierce 

The azure skies sublime. 



110 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

Are silent agents, faithful slaves, 

In the majestic plan, 
Whereby the universal Lord 

Bestows his gifts on man. 

For see those vast unbounded plains, 
Twixt the extremes of earth. 

And ask what mighty mother gave 
Those endless forests birth. 

Those forests fair, and murky streams 

That ever onward flow, 
Their beauty and their grandeur to 

The distant Andes owe. 

Methought I saw those barriers moved 

To the Atlantic's shore. 
And then no gloomy clouds did drift 

The mighty Llanos o'er. 

And those extended sylvan plains 
Where endless forests stand 

To deserts were at once transformed 
And wastes of burning sand. 

The Amazon no longer rolled 

In splendor to the sea. 
But o'er its bed a hot simoon 

Was howling fitfully. 



WILD FLOWERS. Ill 

And then I knew what powers vast 

The gloomy mountains are, 
And what vast influence they exert 

Upon the earth afar. 

And thus uncounted miracles 

Are wrought upon our sphere, 
With them each day, each hour is fraught 

They mark the changing year. 

And as we look above from earth 

Unto the starlit sky 
We find man's servants too, among 

The shining worlds on high. 

God made them too to bless our earth 
With their soft twinkling light, 

'Twas He who placed those beacons on 
The darksome coasts of night. 

And yet no sound doth e'er escape 
Them as their gleaming spheres 

Rush in glory onward 
Through the flying years. 

At twihght's hour the fickle moon, 

Pale mistress of the night. 
Pours from her orb on Mother Earth 

A flood of silver light. 



112 ELSmORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And the mystic tides diurnal 

That ocean's margins lave, 
Leap up toward her shining disc 

In many a crested wave. 

Thus round the earth they ever go, — 

With it around the sun. 
Propelled by might eternal 

An endless journey run. 

So to all thiugs in Nature's realm 

We find a task is given, 
E'en from the humblest plants that grow 

To brightest stars of heaven. 

Yet all in harmony Vv^e see 

Conforming to one plan, 
Conducing all to one great end. 

The happiness of man. 



ON MEMORY. 

The past is but a lonely tomb 
Where buried lies the hope of years. 
And useless are our idle tears, — 

A bootless tribute to the gloom. 

And Memory oft brings bitter pain : 
When we the buried past unearth 
A thousand phantoms have their birth, 

A thousand sorrows live again. 



WILD FLOWERS. 113 

RETRIBUTION. 

Right gayly did peal the village church bell 

When fair Lady Alice was wed, 
But ere its glad notes on the air again fell 

Her vision of happiness fled. 

For there came from afar o'er the blue ocean tide 

One, who had loved of yore, 
And in her grand home he sought the fair bride 

And told her the story he bore. 

His pale cheek flushed, and flashed his dark eye, 
When he found her amid a gay throng. 

And thus in the hearing of all who stood by 
Avenged his terrible wrong : 

" You shall suffer such pangs as you often have made 
Full many a true heart to know, 
They shall have their revenge through another 
repaid, 
And dealt the retributive blow ! 

You may turn with scorn and derision aside, — 

My words are true — by my life 
You are not, as you think,}Sir Andrew's loved bride 

You are his mistress, and not his true wife. 

He sought you with splendor, for his fortune is 
great, 

His estates are broader than mine, 
This made you untrue, alas 'tis too late. 

For shame and dishonor are thine ! 



114 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

And yet you believed him ? — ah the folly of life !- 
You thought him noble and true • 

Behold, Lady Alice, the desolate wife 
Whom he has forsaken for you ! 

ind look false Lady to your ignoble Lord " 

He sees her, he blanches with fear, 
For your treachery now you have your reward, 
For your crime, retribution is here !" 



EVENTIDE. 

At eventide the lengthening shades foretell, 
The sun's decline, and day's swift coming close; 

So by my waning strength I know full well 
That night is near, — the end of all life's woes. 

Not like a child, who ere he goes to rest 
Doth lay aside his toys with many a tear, 

But like a reaper, believing all is best 
I lay aside the arms I may no longer bear. 

Not knowing what will be the recompense 
Of all my deeds before the Judge of all 

I lay me down, trusting that Providence, 
That pities even the humble sparrow's fall. 



WILD FLOWERS. 115 

ETERNITY. 

Only in dreams may we explore 

That unknown realm that lies before, 

Eternity. 

Thoughtful and sad we tread the shore, 

And watch the barks departing o'er 

That dreary sea. 

Sometimes — yea oft— we fain would know 

Unto what land these exiles go 

When they depart ; 

Their destiny, the endless theme 

Of every idle dreamer's dream 

Thrills many a heart. 

Scarce knowing why, we speculate, 
Or, on the sands, we idly wait 
Our turn to sail. 

And this were best, if we confide 
The helm to Him who rules the tide 
In calm and gale. 



TO AZRAEL. 

And who art thou, midst shadows dimly seen. 

With gleaming eyes and dank and sulphurous 
breath ? 

Methinks I know thy pale and ghastly mien, 
Azrael thou art, man's adversary. Death. 



116 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

For years hast thou pursued relentlessly ; 

I've heard thy rushing pinions day and night, 
And now I can — I will no longer flee, 

Here needs must end my unavailing flight ! 

And since from thee, I may no longer fly, 
Behold ! I turn and lay my bosom bare ; 

Pale monster still I all thy powers defy, 
Thou hast no terrors that I may not dare ! 



TO LAILA. 

Laila, in the years gone by 
We in friendship often met 

Sweet remembrance will not die 
Laila I esteem thee yet. 

And sometime we'll meet again 
Where our joys will be snnernal 

On the fair elysian plain 
In the land of life eternal. 



LET THERE BE LIGHT. 

" Let there be light," Jehovah said 
And forth from darkness overhead. 
Swift as the meteors that fly 
Athwart the silent midnight sky 
Heaven's glowing majectic swung 
Obedient to the word divine : 
No clamor through the ether rung ;- 
Each star to its vast orbit swung 
Where it in silence e'er doth shine ! 



WILD FLOWERS. H^J 

THE PENITENT'S PRAYER. 

As a suppliant I bow 
At thy feet O Saviour now, 
For my iieart is filled with woe 
That no other one can knovv^ 
And, indeed, I must despair 
If thou do not hear my prayer. 
Yea, I know my feet did stray 
From the straight and narrow way ; 
And my misdeeds did defame 
My Redeemer's sacred name. 
Yet, I now like one of old 
Would return unto thy fold, 
And in penitence confess 
All my sin,— unworthiness ! 
From thy matchless throne above 
Look in pity and in love, 
All my sinful deeds forgive. 
Bid my erring soul to live ! — 
Be my friend and constant guide 
While I on the earth abide, 
For I ne'er can go astray n 

While Thou leadest in the way ! 



TO M - * * - 



I write, at thy request, upon this page a name 
Unknown alike to fortune and to fame. 

Yet it will be in every coming year 
Memento of a friend, at least sincere. 



118 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

THE COMET OF 1882. 

"We welcome thee, pale wanderer of the skies ! 
We welcome thee, and with deep pleasure view 
Thy starry disc and its attendant train ! 
For we regard thee not as harbinger 
Of fruitless seasons, nor precursor sure 
Of pestilence, of famine and of war ! 

Where hast thou been since fearful men 
Long years agone behold thee vanishing? 
Hast thy lucid train ne'er swept among 
Those constellations that so faintly beam 
From their far orbits in the depths profound? 
Canst thou not tell if they be worlds like ours 
Vast habitations, fit for beings animate ; 
Or are they realms dreary and desolate 
Where devils hold unceasing carnival? 
And if they be the dwelling place of man 
Is he the heir of vaster worlds unknown? 
Or has he yet transgressed some holy law 
Entailing thus on nations yet unborn 
Insatiate wrath and all the woes of hell ? 

Thou canst not tell, celestial visitant. 
No answering voice comes from thy silver sphere ; 
Thou hast thy secrets and we ne'er may know 
The mysteries of God's boundless universe. 



WILD FLOWERS. 119 

LINES. 

Farewell, O my soul, to thy dream of ambition ! 

The fire that once warmed thee is smouldering low, 
Then why shouldst thou strive since the highest posi- 
tion 

That fame gives to man may not quicken its glow. 

Far better the slave's accursed condition, 
Who save his rough labor no burden doth bear, 

Than mine, whose life is one scene of contrition 
Whose heart fate has blasted with hopeless despair. 



STANZAS. 

Thousands perish, and their names 
Perish with them ; and 'tis well 

For the living scroll of fame 
Should of heroes only tell : 

Heroes who have nobly striven, 
On tbr world's great battle field, 

To advance the truth of heaven 
And the arms of reason wield. 

Such as these have never died. 
For their influence like a river 

Flows with ever deepening tide 
On towards the great forever. 



120 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

THE SEA SHORE. 

Night comes apace ; the timid stars 
Look down upon the deep, 

And on the ocean's restless tides 
The silver moonbeams sleep. 

The gentle, undulating waves 
Break on the rock-bound shore, 

And echoes of the night repeat 
Their deep majestic roar. 

The lighthouse on the sea girt isle 
Sheds far its friendly ray, 

To guide the lonely mariners 
Upon their dangerous way. 

Far out at sea, the stately ships 
Pass the broad belt of night, 

Beneath the moon, and then are lost 
In the abyss of night. 

Awed by the grandeur of the scene, 
And all my pride subdued, 

I realize as ne'er before 
Creation's amplitude. 

And here, upon the lone sea beach 

I dedicate once more. 
My soul to Him whose mighty hand 

First fashioned sea and shore. 



WILD FLOWERS. 121 

Assured that when at length I j)ass 

Beyond the sea of years, 
His hand shall moor my tired bark 

To Heaven's eternal piers. 



FATE AND CHANCE. 

These are the watchwords of the indolent : 

Who, to defend their own unfruitful lives 

Complain of adverse fate, Medean laws 

And all the harsh decrees of Destiny. 

These subtle reasoners may be daily seen 

Their faces pinched by joyless penury. 

While moments fraught with golden blessings 

pass 
Swiftly away, unheeded, unimproved. 

Heed not such rea,soners : ' ' in thy bosom are 

The stars of thine unwritten destiny." 

Life is thine own, and thou the a,uthor art 

Of thy own fortunes. 

Impartially the gentle dews descend, 

Imj)artially the rain from heaven falls 

To bless the parched fields of rich and poor. 

And the same breeze that fans the prince's cheek 

Doth lovingly caress the peasant's brow. 

Then why complain at heaven's dispensing power 

When every day, — yea, every passing hour 

Would bless thee, if thou wouldst but bless thyself. 



122 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

AN EXHORTATION. 

Ye who now walk in the resplendent rays 
That from the hoary top of Sinai shine, 

Continue in the God-illumined ways 
That upward lead unto the heights divine ! 

Turn not aside though oft the way is steep, 

Though oft it leads through shadows deep and vast, 

O'er deserts lone, by waters chill and deep, — 
Press on, and ye shall reach the goal at last ! 



THE BARD AND THE WRAITH, 

Once a minstrel lone and weary 
Wandered forth into the night. 

All the world was dark and dreary 
That ere now had seemed so bright. 

He had suiig in faultless measure 
Of the neighboring mount and plain, 

But applause, — the poet's treasure. 
He had nobly sought in vain. 

As he strayed despairing, weeping. 

Soon he met an aged man. 
Who, without one word of greeting, 

Thus to counsel him began : 



WILD FLOWERS. 123 

' ' Son thy sadness sorely grieves me 
Needlessly doth thou repine : — 
Let no cold neglect deceive thee, 
Many a glorious gift is thine. 

Know then that no prophet ever 

Honored was in his own land, 
And that ballad pleaseth never 

Written by familiar hand. 

Sing in unaccustomed places 
Of far lands and distant climes, 

Ancient valor, courtly graces, 
And the old historic times. 

Unto strangers tell thy story. 

Strike for them each tuneful string : 

They will cover thee with glory, 
They the laurel crown will bring. 

And when death has hushed thy lyre 
They will write thy honored name. 

In bright characters of lire. 
On the living scroll of fame. 

The wraith, for such it was,— ceased speaking, 

Vanished in the starry night, 
And the bard, his counsel keeping, 

Passed his days in pure delight. 



124 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

SUMPTER.— A REMINISCENCE. 

A solitary sea-encircled mound 
Rising abruptly from the azure bay. 
Its broken walls and ruined battlements 
Strewn with huge guns half buried in the sand, 
Is all that now rewards the tourist's eye 
Where once the great historic fortress stood 
Proud and defiant by the sunny sea. 

Here once I chanced to pass an hour alone 
Amid the fallen piles of masonry, 
And ruined monuments of sanguine war. 
And as I mused upon the lonely scene 
My mind became so full of fancies strange 
That for a time, indeed I scarce was sure 
If life were real or mere phantasy. 
Transformed by fancy's wonder-working power 
The lonely mound became an eminence, 
From which I saw our well-beloved land 
Struggling once more in the embrace of war. 
I saw rich fxelds turned back to wilderness, 
And fertile gardens overrun with thorn, 
And idle mills consumed with slow decay. 
And childless mothers v/eeping in despair. 
And gray-haired men half crazed with penury, 
And orj)hans wailing all their woes alone. 
And vice, disease, and every nameless curse 
Hate could inflict or suffering land receive. 



WILD FLOWERS. 125 

The solitude seemed broken and the fort 

Assumed once more its bold and shapely form ; 

And the huge guns there rusting in disuse 

Gleamed threateningly upon the massive walls, 

And over all an azure ensign waved, 

And all around were groups of gray-clad men, 

And far away tov/ard the restless sea 

Dim, indistinct and vv rapped in clouds of smoke, 

Stood iron ships in formidable array, 

Deep laden with the armaments of war. 

A heavy sound, like that of distant guns, 
Aroused me from mj lengthened revery. 
The inist was gone, and 'gainst the ruined wall 
The rising waves v^ere thundering heavily. 
The sunny bay was white with peaceful sails. 
And far as eye could reach the sunny land 
Was blessed with peace — smiled with prosperity. 



MISFORTUNES. 

I've sometimes thought, that few indeed have been 
Cursed by a fate so seemingly unkind, 

Yet in God's blessed providence I've seen 
That oft misfortunes are for good designed. 

And I have learned, at length, to view them all 

And chastenings by a loving Parent given 
For when I faint I hear a tender call, 
"Be of good cheer!" — come from the vault of 
heaven. 



126 ELSINOBE AND OTHER POEMS. 

We see but darkly 'mid the shadows here, 
God's purposes are all to us unknown. 

Yet in the future shall all things appear 
Surpassing plain before God's matchless throne. 



HEAVEN AND EARTH. 

They tell us of fair chrystal walls, 

Of spacious streets gold paved and wide, 

Of dazzling thrones, eternal halls 
That lie beyond death's icy tide. 

They tell of flowers whose sweet perfume 
Is wafted up the livelong year, — 

Immortal flowers whose snowy bloom 
Outrivals all that blossom here. 

And we believe all that is told ; 

With eye of faith we upward gaze 
Upon the shining streets of gold 

The walls with glittering stones ablaze. 

And yet I deem we better love 
This realm of sorrow and despair, 

Than that mysterious land above 
Where all is so surpassing fair. 

For often when the closing day 
Hath come, — we hear the pilgrim cry, 
' ' I dread the dark and shadowy way 
O God. O God I would not die !" 



WILD FLOWERS. 127 



'Tf) * -^ * * * 

When you with retrospective eye 
The scenes of youth survey, 
V/ill you recall the humble friend 
Whose love you scorn to-day ? 
■'You do not know — you cannot tell" 
Then may the future prove 
To you false one, it was not well 
To scorn a true man's love. 



ELEGIAC. 

Again is heard the rush of unseen wings 

Descending through the starlit void of night ; 

Remorseless Death another summons brings, 
Another soul hath passed the gates of light. 

'Tis Heaven's decree ; and yet we can but weep 
That envious Heaven should from our midst remove. 

One, in her youth, who sought its law to keep, 
One, whom to know was to respect and love. 

And ye afflicted ones, so sad and hopeless now. 
Could sympathy assuage your bitter grief, 

'Twere ours to chase the clouds from every brow 
And to each stricken soul bring swift relief. 



128 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

This may not be, — God gives — God takes away 
And He alone can soothe the troubled heart : 

Remember this ye stricken ones, and pray 
That he may bid your griefs for aye depart. 

Then vs^ill your way, that seemeth now so drear, 
Grow bright with promise, and your lives shall be 

So full of hope, that ye with joy shall hear 
The spectre when he comes your souls to free. 



A MOHAMMEDAN FABLE. 

Mohammed once, in desert wide 
An Arab of the waste espied 
Who bore a pitcher in one hand 
And in one a burning brand. 
Said Mohammed : ' ' Tell me friend 
Whither now thy footsteps tend ?" 
And the strange man did reply : — 
"Allah's prophet sir, am I, 
And to do his bidding g-o 
To the dreary world below. 
Where with water I will quell 
The consuming flame of hell ; 
Thence 111 pass into the skies, 
Even unto Paradise, 
And with fire w411 1 destroy 
Heaven and every future joy, 
That base man no longer driven 
By fear of Hell or hope of Heaven 
May ascribe unselfish praise 
To great Allah's glorious ways." 



WILD FLOWERS. 129 



STANZAS. 



Gone ! yea forever ! — I cannot recall thee ? — 

O the woe and the anguish that burdens my heart !— 

No smile didst thou give at our parting to cheer me, 
With a frown on thy features I saw the depart ! 

I love thee still,— I shall love thee forever, 
Nor shall my affections another e'er claim 

Thou saidst I'd forget— O could I !— but never 
In oblivion shall rest my Mary's loved name. 



A RETROSPECTION. 

The dark clouds ascending, 
The roar and the rattle 
Tell of armies contending 
In furious battle. 
The squadrons of Blue 
And legions of Gray, 
Both dauntless and true 
Rush on to the fray : 
They meet and their shock 
Is like the commotion 
Of waves on a rock 
In tempestuous ocean. 
The angel of Death 
High carnival holds, 
And Moloch ingathers 
A harvest of souls. 



130 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

On a myriad fields 
Their corses are strewn, 
From a myriad households 
The light is e'er flown : 
And sad is the moan, 
And loud is the wail 
Of widows and orphans 
Bourne far on the gale. 
But sadder than theirs 
Is the fate of the maid 
"Whose hope, in the dust 
Forever is laid ; 
The love of whose youth 
Is stricken and dead, 
A widow is she 
Though never she wed. 
Across her pathway 
A shadow is thrown. 
She dwells in the hall 
Of her father's alone, 
And who can foretell 
If from shadows that lower 
Her soul shall be lifted 
Again evermore ! 



The war-cloud is past, 
And wild flowers bloom. 
On the fields of the dead 
Dispelling the gloom. 



WILD FLOWERS. 131 

The Goddess of Peace 
Wreathes garlands of bay 
For the faithful ; alike 
For the Blae and the Gray. 
And the shadows of Discord, 
Once spectral and vast, 
Now scarcely are seen 
In the desolate past. 



"PRO MEMORIA." 

Since Death has destined that we meet, 
Upon Life's changeful sea, no more, 
I hope on Heaven's chrystal shore 
I may your ransomed spirit greet. 

And when we stand before the throne, 
Whereat we all must soon appear. 
The records then will witness bear 
That I have loved but thee alone. 

And O how sweet with angels there 
To wander in those blissful spheres, 
And through the long unchanging years 
To rest in mansions bright and fair. 

There would I take thee by the hand, 
And all the balmy sunless days 
We'd wander down the golden ways 
Of the eternal spirit land. 



132 ELSINORE AND OTHER POEMS. 

I love thee still, for love like mine 
No power of reason can restrain ; 
Though hopeless it is not in vain, 
For love, though mad is yet divine. 

In dreams I often see thy grave 

Upon the sere and wintry hill, 

I see afar the frozen rill, 

The tree tops in the moonlight wave. 

Then backward o'er the ice and snow, 
The frozen waste of joyless years, 
I pass — the lone scene disappears 
And Summer round me seems to glow. 

And sweetly flows the gentle stream, 
Freed from the Winter's icy thrall, 
The flowers brightly bloom, and all 
The earth is radiant with the gleam. 

Upon the green sward children play, 
As once they did so long ago ; 
I see them romping to and fro, 
I hear their laughter glad and gay. 

We sit beneath the pines again. 
The gentle zephyrs sing above, 
I whisper softly words of love, 
And know my vows are not in vain. 



WILD FLOWERS. I33 

1 clasp once more thy tender hand 
My fevered lips to thine I press, 
But even with that first caress 
I'm hurried back from Morpheus' land. 

And swiftly fades the Summer's glow. 
The brook is bound in icy thrall. 
The flowers disappear, and all 
The earth is wrapped again in snow. 




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